This story is from April 27, 2015

Over three hundred goats slaughtered at Madurai's temple fest

More than 300 goats were slaughtered on Friday as part of a festival held at a temple in Sivagangai district and an exclusively-male crowd sat down for a mutton meal at a playground in the village.
Over three hundred goats slaughtered at Madurai's temple fest
MADURAI: More than 300 goats were slaughtered on Friday as part of a festival held at a temple in Sivagangai district and an exclusively-male crowd sat down for a mutton meal at a playground in the village.
The Madaikaruppasamy temple situated in Thirumalai village in Sivaganga has a deity who is believed to guard the sluices in the tank which irrigates the entire village.
The deity interestingly does not have any idol and is signified by an 'aruval' and bells that symbolise the protection of the tank. The villagers traditionally offer goats in large numbers to the deity to redeem their vows.
Male members undertake a fast to mark the beginning of the festival, which fell on April 17 this year. The festival is held in the month of Chithirai after the agricultural activities of the year have come to an end and sluices of the tank have been closed. It begins with a flag-hoisting ceremony.
The festival is celebrated entirely by the male members of the families who go on fasts and take out a procession with black goats on the eighth day of the festival.
Only black goats are used and all the 328 animals were slaughtered one after another from 4pm on Friday. Then the heads of the goats were arranged on the steps of the pedestal on which the bells and aruval were kept.
A group of men cooked the meat and served it to thousands of men from many parts of southern Tamil Nadu who sat down together for the feast in a huge open ground near the temple towards midnight. The leftover food and meat were buried in the ground, while the hide of the slaughtered goats were set on fire.
P Thangaraj, a villager, said that the wrath of the deity would be incurred if the meat was consumed by women. The leftover meat is buried deep to ensure that dogs didn't dig it out. This festival prays for a good harvest and protection against diseases to all the devotees.
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