Gadhimai vs. the West: The Illusion of Moral Superiority
Every five years, millions of Hindu devotees gather in Bariyarpur, Nepal, to honour the goddess Gadhimai with animal sacrifices—a tradition rooted in faith, poverty, and community. The imagery is raw. The scale, enormous. And the global reaction? Outrage.
But let’s be honest. It’s not the whole world that’s outraged—it’s mostly the West. The same West that celebrates Easter with roasted lamb and glazed ham. The same West that hides its bloodshed behind supermarkets and holiday cheer.
At Gadhimai, untrained butchers—locals who pay priests to have their blades “blessed”—publicly slaughter buffalo calves, goats, pigeons, and more. The killings are visible. The participants? Often impoverished. They do the killing themselves and eat the animals they sacrifice.
Now compare that to the global West.
Billions celebrate religious holidays that rely on animal slaughter. Tens of millions of animals die for these events every single year. But the suffering is outsourced. Sanitised. Packaged. And most participants live in relative comfort, far removed from the violence their traditions depend on.
Here’s the difference: our food system isn’t transparent—that’s why there’s no outcry. Gadhimai is brutally transparent, and that’s exactly why it sparks global outrage. It’s not the violence people oppose—it’s the confrontation with it.
At THAT Project, we demand transparency in our food systems. People deserve to know where their food comes from and what it costs—ethically, environmentally, and socially. Without transparency, there can be no accountability. And without accountability, there can be no justice.
So why is Gadhimai condemned so fiercely, even violently? Why do comments on social media call for death and punishment of its participants?
Let’s be clear: this isn’t about animal rights. It’s about bias. About class. About race. About the discomfort of seeing violence you yourself contribute to—just hidden behind glass and distance.
There is no liberation in selective outrage. Animal rights and human rights are not mutually exclusive—but liberation and selective rights are. If we truly care about justice, we must confront all violence, no matter how familiar or foreign it feels.
At THAT Project, we believe in total liberation—for all beings, across all boundaries. If this hits a nerve, you’re not alone. This is the space for honest, uncomfortable, and healing conversation.
Let’s dismantle the bias. Let’s do the work. Together.
