Thousands of devotees have congregated in a small Nepalese village to take part in what is believed to be the biggest animal slaughter ritual in the world.

According to the organizer of the ceremony, about 500,000 animals will be offered to the Hindu goddess, Gadhimai, so that their prayers will be answered.

The practice has been observed by the group for 300 years.

Ram Bahadur Chetri, a professor of anthropology at the Tribhuwan University in Katmandu said, ” They continue these animal sacrifice rituals because they believe it is a tradition that can’t be broken. The people who follow these traditions believe that if they discontinue, then the gods will get angry and there could be catastrophe in the country.”

Animal rights activists had demanded for the activity to be cancelled, calling the mass massacre “barbaric”.

The festival will run for two days in Bariyapur, a tiny village in the south of Nepal near the Indian border.

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