MYSURU: No animal sacrifice was allowed till Wednesday at the ongoing Siddappaji Jatra at Chikkalur where thousands of goats, sheep and hens used to be killed every year.
Top officials have been camping at Chikkaluru, 82 km from the city, following High Court orders to enforce the blanket ban on animal sacrifice at the annual festival which began on Sunday.
As many as 19 check-posts are put up around the village and thousands of police and forest officials deployed to prevent devotees from bringing animals to the festival for sacrifice.There were verbal exchanges between officials and devotees who tried to bring animals to the Siddappaji temple where cooking of only vegetarian food is allowed. The jathra will continue till Friday.
The High Court had passed the orders on January 20 following a petition from Vishwa Prani Kalayana Mandal, which had produced video footage of animal sacrifice despite a ban on it.
Tradition of Animal Sacrifice and Bangi
The Siddappaji jatra is being celebrated for centuries at Chikkalur drawing 4-5 lakh devotees from Mysuru, Chamrajnagar, Mandya, Ramangaram, Hassan and other districts.
They sacrifice sheep, goats and hens and offer puja to Siddappaji with liquor and bangi, an intoxicant substance. The devotees consume liquor and ganja and serve food to their families and other visiting devotees.
‘Chandramandala’, a 30-foot-tall structure of bamboo and coconut fibres is put up and farmers throw foodgrains and flowers at it.
Priests perform puja and set the structure on fire with a belief that the directions of the flames would be blessed with good crops.The devotees also hold ‘hulivahanotsava’ and ‘mudi seve’ to Siddappaji. Lakhs of devotees turned up for ‘pankti seve’ on the fourth day on Wednesday. It is on this day animals used to be sacrificed and food laced with ‘bangi’ served to families.