The Gadhimai Temple is a holy shrine for Hindus which hosts the Gadhimai festival in Nepal, also known as the Festival of Blood. “Gadhi” means “place” and “Mai” means “mother” in the Bhojpuri language.
Because of the mass animal immolation that happens during the feast, the holy place has also made headlines in different international media as the place of biggest animal sacrifice.
The main temple of Gadhimai is in the Bariyarpur village of Mahagadhimai Municipality in the Bara District of south-central Nepal. The location is well known as the motherland of the Bhojpuri people who are devoted to Gadhimai. And people from other regions mainly visit here to worship the Gadhimai Devi, who is favored as the goddess of power and strength.
There's a belief that
Goddess Gadhimai fulfills all the wishes of people to sacrifice an animal in the temple. Thus, a huge Gadhimai festival takes place in the area every 5 years, sacrificing thousands of domestic animals. There's a special ritual known as the Panchabali, which means the sacrifice of five animals, including buffalo, pig, goat, chicken, and forest rat.
