BALANGIR: Several attempts by animal rights activists over the years to stop animal sacrifice at Sulia Pitha in Khairguda village of Balangir district failed as bloodbath once again marked Sulia Yatra on Tuesday.
The tribals performed their age-old tradition of animal sacrifice to appease their local deity, Sulia, as police and district administration officials kept a watch.
Sources said over a thousand people thronged the Sulia Pitha from early morning with their animals and waited for their turn to offer those in sacrifice to appease the Goddess. “More than 1,000 animals/birds such as cocks, pigeons, goats and buffalo calves were sacrificed at ‘Bada Khala’ and ‘Nua Khala’.
A large contingent of police deployed at the site did not interfere in the sacrifices and limited their duty to maintaining law and order, said an anti-sacrifice activist.
The tribals believe that offering blood of animals and birds to Sulia brings good harvest resulting in prosperity and happiness to their families and the community as a whole.
A day before the festival on Monday, a meeting between the district administration, members of puja committee and anti-sacrifice organisations failed. District Collector M Muthukumar tried to persuade the tribals to observe the rituals in a low-key manner but the latter cited faith and refused to relent.
In September last year, refusing to entertain a petition to ban animal sacrifices during religious festivals across all communities, the Supreme Court said it could not, for the sake of societal balance and harmony, intervene in centuries-old customs of religious faith and tradition meant to appease the gods. The district administration did not impose Section 144 of IPC in the area on Tuesday.