149-year-old animal sacrifice tradition continues at Tripura’s Durgabari Temple

A buffalo and several goats were sacrificed at the 149-year-old Durgabari temple in Agartala on October 20 as part of the Maha Nabami rituals during Durga Puja, a priest said.

The traditional ritual was performed amid the chanting of mantras, with the sacrifice site kept out of public view in accordance with Supreme Court directives, the priest said.

“We have a century-old tradition of sacrificing animals to Goddess Durga on the day of Maha Nabami as part of the worship. The ritual was conducted at a site concealed from public view. In fact, worshipping of Goddess Durga will remain incomplete without animal sacrifice,” temple priest Jayanta Bhattacharjee told PTI.

In 2019, a division bench of the Tripura High Court, then headed by Chief Justice Sanjoy Karol, had banned animal and bird sacrifices at temples across the state, including the Maa Tripura Sundari temple.

The Supreme Court subsequently stayed the High Court’s order following a petition, while imposing certain restrictions on animal sacrifice in temples.

Bhattacharjee said that on Wednesday, the occasion of Vijaya Dashami, police would present a guard of honour to Goddess Durga at the temple early in the morning. The holy pitcher would then be escorted to Ujjayanta Palace, where members of the erstwhile royal family would bid farewell to the deity.

Temple in-charge Pradip Debnath said there was no specific vegetarian or non-vegetarian menu for the goddess at Durgabari.

“We offer Goddess Durga whatever devotees donate or sacrifice at the temple. There is no bar on meat and fish here,” he said.

The Durga Puja at the temple is organised by the West Tripura district administration on behalf of the Manikya dynasty.