ORISSA, INDIA, April 17, 2002: A government minister has helped save the lives of 1,000 animals that were to be sacrificed at a temple here. The goats and sheep are slaughtered on Maha Bishuva Sankranti day as an offering to Goddess Kali. Federal minister Maneka Gandhi intervened and convinced priests to abandon the ritual at the Bayani Thakurani, or Goddess Kali, temple in Orissa state. Some warned it would bring ill fortune but they agreed despite protests from thousands of devotees. A number blocked the road in protest. One animal was sacrificed as a symbolic ritual, reports Sify News. The other 999 are likely to meet a less public death at the hands of the local butchers.
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