Authorities refute possibility of human sacrifice on Kamakhya premises

Guwahati: Priests and managing authorities expressed doubts over the recovery of a woman’s headless body as an incident of human sacrifice, on Thursday, a day after it was recovered near Banadurga temple, adjacent to Kamakhya shrine atop Nilachal hills in Guwahati.
It was pointed out that no female form is offered as sacrifice in this shaktipeeth of Goddess Kamakhya, which is also a seat of Tantric cult.
Temple authorities told UNI on Thursday that sacrifice of the female form is not practiced in the temple since it is dedicated to a mother goddess.
“This (Kamakhya temple) is a seat of Tantric cult and as such, sacrifice is practiced here. Everyday sacrifices are offered to the Mother Goddess, but whatever is sacrificed, it is of the male gender of that species,” the authorities said.
“For instance, only goats or oxen are offered as sacrifice. No female of any animal species is sacrificed,” they added.
Explaining this tradition, they said since the temple is dedicated to a female goddess and there has been no practice of offering a female animal as sacrifice.
“Hence, the idea of a woman being offered as a sacrifice does not hold ground with the tantric cult followed in our temple,” they claimed.
Commenting on the recovery yesterday, the authorities alleged that it was a ploy to malign the image of the temple ahead of the annual Ambubachi Mela, which gets underway on June 22.
“We have been successfully holding and improving the Mela for four to five years. And there is a section that wants to disrupt it. We hope the police will get to the root of this conspiracy and arrest the culprits,” they said.
The authorities, however, refused to name any person or organisation that could be behind the alleged conspiracy.
Meanwhile, police have launched investigation to nab the culprits and to get to the root of the incident.
Top police officials, including city Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar, have already visited the crime scene. (UNI)