TRAVELMAN NEPAL: A trip to Dakshinkali Temple Where I Witnessed Animal Sacrifices

Pharping, Nepal is a small town about 20 km east of Kathmandu. I spent eleven days there volunteering at the hospital and a school. I arrived on a Friday night. The next morning I watched animals get sacrificed.

HALFWAY THROUGH THIS POST I WARN YOU THAT I’M ABOUT TO SHOW PICS (That I think are tame) THAT HAVE ANIMAL BLOOD AND A COUPLE CARCASSES. YOU ARE WARNED AND WILL BE WARNED AGAIN. You have to really look intently to find the carcasses in the pics, they’re small. Some people are sensitive, so... Anyway, personally, I think the pics are harmless and just fine to open up at your desk. It’s an outdoor religious butcher shop- but just in case you have your child sitting next to you and they start asking what you’re looking at, be prepared for a conversation about cultures...

My evening ride into town was an initiation into highway life in Nepal. It was a bumpy ride.

****——It was boonies dark—-****

Trucks lumbered up the mountain, impatient motorcycles bobbed back and forth looking for an opening to pass. It was dark, sometimes wet. I could see the city lights below the backseat window, we were climbing.

****——We happened to be behind an ambulance most of the way——****

****—-Us arriving in Pharping... Along the way, I saw a lot of people sitting in front of fires such as this one outside roadside buildings—-****

****——The big Buddha in the Glass case above the temple, across from my home stay—-****

Sabin took the other volunteer and I on a sight seeing excursion to Dakshinkali Temple. Sabin is the son of the owner of The Family Homestay that houses the volunteers. Dakshinkali Temple is a local place of Hindu worship that offers to sacrifice your animals every Tuesday and Saturday (not sure if they’re open on government holidays) The other volunteer was eighteen-year-old Jahn from Germany.

Dakshinkali Temple sits on the edge of town. It took us fifteen minutes to walk there. It was all downhill. I said to Sabin, “It’s all downhill on the walk back as well, right?”

“Yes, we will be taking the bus to a trekking point afterward. It is a resort with a nice view.”

I didn’t know if he misunderstood me or simply decided to ignore my attempt at a joke. We left the road, walked under an archway and descended a stone staircase.

Soon, we were walking past a market outside the temple...

I could see smoke and a crowd below as we descended more steps. Smoke rose into the air from various sources...

****——That’s Sabin and Jahn. I’ll let you use your racial stereotyping skills to determine who’s who.——****

“Who are the people on the blankets?” I wondered if they held some kind of religious position.

They didn’t.

“Beggars.” Sabin replied with a hint of recognition to the silliness of my question.

“Oh.” It was immediately obvious now.

It was crowded. After all, it was sacrifice day! Local worshippers took selfies at different points on the descent down to the alter. I’m not sure how much they were worshiping and how much they were hitting the local scene. I haven’t been to church lately, but the last time I checked there wasn’t a lot of primping for selfies outside the chapel (Gary?)

On the main level, where all the action was taking place, A bridge crossed the river. On the near side, to the left, pavilions stood on the shore. Stone slabs the size of twin mattress lie underneath them. You can kind of see the bridge in the pic above this paragraph.

“That is where they bring their dead.” Sabin said. He was referring to the cremations. Dakshinkali is on of two places I’ve heard of around Kathmandu that has an outdoor, public cremation alter next to a river.

The locals bring their deceased family members here, sometimes at night and burn the bodies on the stone slabs. If you happen to be there at the time, you’ll be a spectator to a very personal event. If you ever go, be respectful. It’s not a show for tourists, it’s a funeral.
———

****WARNING*****......*****WARNING***** ......****WARNING******

YOU WILL SEE A BIT OF BLOOD, and a dead chicken and dead goat from afar. You will see the outdoor butcher shop. If you are faint of heart, check out my other posts which are much more lighthearted. I debated what to do about these pics and the warning is my solution. Personally, I find them benign. If you’ve been to a butcher shop, you’ve seen worse. Families bring their young children to this place. It’s a place of worship, but I’m going to show you a chicken that’s about to get sacrificed and it’s body (not in close up- you have to really look to see it. And a dead goat on the ground- Again, you really have to search the pic to see it. I think this is worth sharing and showing. It’s a culture that is foreign to Westerners and common practice here. So, there you go....

****WARNING******. ******WARNING***** ****WARNING****

No bodies were burned there that morning. The river was no more than a few dried puddles. Sabin said that when he was a child, it was flowing with water. Climate change took away the water he said. Most of the water in these puddles came from drain pipes leading from the slaughter house across the bridge. The butchers hosed the areas down, blood, guts, and water dripped from the drain pipes.

We crossed the bridge. People crowded around the alter where the main event took place. Some people held chickens in their arms or goats on leashes.

This little guys has no idea what’s in store for him. And you thought your dog was afraid to go to the vet. Also, selfie time! How do I look??? #MYSACRIFICE #TEMPLELIFE...

We passed the butcher shop on the other side of the river...

If you had an offering, you went around the back of the alter. This guy is sprinkling something of ceremonial ritual significance on his offering (either that or he’s salting it early). If you came empty handed and after arriving thought to yourself, “Gee, Now that I’m here, I’m in the mood to Sacrifice! I really wish I would’ve decided to bring a sacrifice just in case!” Have no fear. They sold live sacrificial chickens up at the market...

A designated guy decapitated the chickens and slit the throats of goats. I saw two chickens buy a ticket to the big farm in the sky, but no goats.

You’ve gotta look close in this pic to see anything, but the guy in the back is doing the deed. You can only see that he’s holding a chicken. It was all over very quickly

If you look closely, you can see the body of the chicken on the ground. They were waiting for the body to stop twitching.

After you sacrifice your animal, it’s taken to the butcher shop to be prepared for you to eat that evening. Much better than loading a herd of cows into a slaughter house and driving a spike into their head on an assembly line. ...Just sayin’.

From the bridge, the dried up river bed in front of the alter...

More dried up stream and leaves covered in dust...

Hope you found the post informative and enlightening. It’s a big world out there.

Travelman log, day 183...
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