Fear psychosis among devotees and priests over bungling of animal sacrifice in ‘Mata Tripureshwari’ temple

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, March 22, 2023

A deep fear psychosis has gripped the minds of devotees of ‘Mata Tripureshwari’ in Udaipur as well as in many parts of the state over a botched up sacrifice of a full-grown he-goat at the sacrificial altar of the temple yesterday. The assistant of the sacrificial priest Uttam Neogi had to slash his sacrificial sword at the neck of the he-goat twenty eight times before it could be beheaded , as required by rituals. Many devotees consider it an ominous sight and harbinger of disaster emanating from the wrath of the ‘Mother Goddess’ while the chief priest of the temple Prasenjit Chakraborty attributed the bizarre phenomenon to either defect in the constitution of the he-goat or violation of the religious code of conduct by the devotee who had brought the sacrificial animal.

Sources from Udaipur said that the task of animal sacrifice had commenced at 11-00 AM yesterday and 59 he-goats and birds had been sacrificed at the altar with single strokes of the sacrificial sword without any hiccup. But the botch-up happened between 12-00 and 12-30 PM as Uttam Neogi, the assistant of the priest tasked with beheading the animals, had to slash at the he-got as many as twenty eight times before the final job could be done. Even as the devotees witnessing the sacrifices lost nerve Uttam Neogi who had been beheading the he-goats and birds lost consciousness over the incident out of fear and nervousness which scripturally indicates the refusal of the Mother Goddess to accept the sacrifice.

The chief priest Prasenjit Chakraborty said “generally defects in constitution of the sacrificial animals or when devotees invite people in advance to partake of the meat of the animals much before the ritual sacrifice lead to such incidents”. But fear is the key here and people including devotees continue to worry over possible ominous consequences . However, the devotee who had brought the he-goat that defied repeated slashing conceded that he had invited his friends and relatives to partake of the meat of the sacrificed animal, thus violating a code of religious conduct.

But the forebodings of a looming disaster in the minds of people are accentuated by the fact that a few days ago a buffalo brought for sacrificed had wriggled out of ropes and run amok, destroying properties of temple, a number of motor bikes, vandalizing five households and injuring at least six persons. Even earlier another he-goat had to be struck on the neck sixteen times before it could be beheaded at the altar before the image of the Mother Goddess.


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