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No animal sacrifice at Kullu Dasehra
350-yr-old tradition goes; Also, HC bans sale of beef in Himachal
Pratibha Chauhan and Abhinav Vashisht
Tribune News Service

Shimla, October 9
Breaking away from an over 350-year-old tradition of making animal sacrifice to appease deities in the Valley of Gods on the last day of Dasehra in Kullu, the Devi Devtas Kardar Sangh today adhered to the High Court ban. Only coconut offerings were made before Goddess Hadimba.

Even as the Devi Devtas Kardar Sangh (body of representatives of deities) maintained suspense over their stand of not making any animal sacrifice to uphold the September 1 high court order till the last minute, the ritual passed off peacefully much to the relief of the district administration and the police. Taking no chances, the authorities had virtually turned the site of offerings at Lanka Baker adjoining the Dhalpur ground into a fortress with heavy police deployment since early morning.

It was after local MLA and scion of the Kullu royal family Maheshwar Singh’s plea before the Goddess to accept the coconut offering in view of the court ban was accepted that everyone heaved a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, the high court today imposed a ban on cow slaughter in Himachal while directing that no person would slaughter any cow or calf and will not export cows for the purpose of slaughter either directly or through his agent or servant. The court also directed that no person shall sell beef or beef products in any form in the state.

Thousands of devotees and almost 100 deities had assembled to witness the sacrifices which mark the conclusion of the Dasehra festivities.

"Dev Samaj will continue to fight for its rights but this time we have decided to honour the high court order of banning animal sacrifice," said Maheshwar. It is for the first time at Kullu Dasehra, being celebrated for over 350 years, that no animal sacrifice was made before the deities.

Kardar Sangh has filed a petition in the Supreme Court which has issued a notice to the Himachal government to file its reply.