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June 28, 2002
1536 IST

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Nepal king sacrifices animal again

Unmoved by protests from animal rights activists, Nepal King Gyanendra offered an animal sacrifice for the second consecutive day on Friday when a goat was slaughtered at the historic Kalighat temple in Kolkata.

On Thursday the monarch had offered five animals at the renowned Kamakhya temple in Guwahati.

The priest at Kalighat, Kamal Mukherjee, said he consecrated the animal in front of the king and Queen Komal Rajya Laxmi. The slaughter took place after the dignitaries had left the temple premises.

The couple arrived at 0915 hours and propitiated Goddess Kali for about 15 minutes.

"The king and the queen, accompanied by Nepalese priest arrived at the temple and offered the puja in the traditional Hindu way. They also touched the deity's feet and prayed for peace in Nepal and India," Mukherjee said.

The couple offered the deity a red handloom sari, a matching chunri, glass bangles, garlands, joss sticks and 12 varieties of fruits, Ajoy Banerjee executive member of the temple's council of sevaits [priests], said.

Before leaving, the couple posed for photographs.

Meanwhile, the security personnel who took over control of the temple complex on Thursday remained on alert. All shops in the densely inhabited area were ordered closed till 1000 hours.

Shortly before the arrival of the VIPs, the city police's dog squad and the army's bomb disposal squad began searching for explosives.

Heavy police deployment was also seen along the Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Ashutosh Mukherjee Road and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Road, leading to Kalighat from Hotel Oberoi Grand where the family was staying. Traffic from these roads was diverted from 0845 hours.

Kalighat is regarded as one of the 51 peeth [seats] of Goddess Sati, or Durga, whose body, according to the Puranas, was dismembered by the Sudarshan Chakra of Lord Vishnu. The toes of her right foot are said to have fallen at the place where the Kali Temple now stands.

PTI

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(c) Copyright 2002 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.

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