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PATRAPADA, INDIA, November 7, 2002: Every year on the Maha Bishuva Sankranti day more than 1,000 goats and sheep are sacrificed at the Bayani Thakurani (Goddess Kali) Temple in Patrapada village, Angul district, Orissa. This year Maneka Gandhi stepped in to save the animals and additionally to stop the age-old tradition of large-scale animal sacrifice. A week before the Sankranti day, district collector L.N. Gupta received a letter from Gandhi asking him to take steps to stop the mass sacrifice. A contingent of police, led by S. P. Arun Bothra, went to Patrapada to convince the people to do away with the practice. Temple priests and devotees initially refused to make any changes as they feared breaking from this tradition would bring misfortune. After a four-hour discussion the priests were persuaded and requested the administration to allow symbolic sacrifice of one animal instead of more than a thousand goats. HPI adds: The report indicates nothing about the fate of the animals after the police intervention. Most likely the goats still ended up as dinner, as the protest was against the ritual sacrifice of the animals and not their killing per se.

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