For The First Time In 500 Years Tripura’s Sundari Temple Forced To Skip ‘Pashu Bali’ Post High Court Ban

It was the first time in over 500 years at centuries-old Tripura Sundari temple that the practice of animal sacrifice was not performed during Durga Puja after it was banned by the state high court last month, Hindustan Times reported.

The temple is one of the 51 Hindu shaktipeeths in the country and every year the district administration on behalf of the state government used to offer one goat everyday during Durga Puja. Several devotees from across the country would also come and offer animals to sacrifice hoping to fulfil their wishes.

However, this year the puja processions went without the any animal being sacrificed as last month the Tripura High Court put a restriction on the practice hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a retired judge Subhash Bhattacharjee in 2018.

As per a previously published report, the government side had contended in the court that in this matter only the Hindu practice of sacrifice was being challenged, while the Muslim practice of sacrificing animals on Bakr-Eid was being ignored.

The court, however, rejected this contention saying that the matter of Muslim sacrifice had already been settled by the Supreme Court in a previous case.

According to the Hindustan Times report, the head priest at the temple Chandan Chakraborty said that they received the order from the local administration on 5 October, the day of Saptami. The priest maintained the stance that the puja was incomplete without the sacrifice.

“Without animal sacrifices, puja is not completed as it is a part of the puja in Matabari (Tripura Sundari temple). The ban on animal sacrifices is affecting our puja,” said Chakraborty.

Considered as one of the holiest shrines in the country, Tripura Sundari Temple is situated in Udaipur of Gomati district, 55 kms from the state capital of Agartala. As per Tripura’s royal records, the temple was built by the former king Dhanya Manikya Bahadur in 1501.