Dakhin Kali

 About eighteen kilometres south of Kathmandu city, situated in a small crystal clear water valley surrounded by the ever green forest hills, is a beautiful golden shrine popularly known as Dakhin Kali where every Tuesday and Saturday (of course on special occasions too lots) and lots of devotees go to worship Kali, the terrifying goddess of time or death, make animal sacrifice to her and celebrate themselves having feast and fun to the full satisfaction of their religious sentiments. It is only half an hours drive from down town Kathmandu as the road to this place is all paved. However, one is suggested to drive slowly so one can enjoy the fascinating country-side views and beautifully terraced rice fields and valleys almost all the way drive to the shrine. To make an early morning trip to Dakhin Kali is quite an experience in itself. A trip to Dakhin Kali in fine mornings is sure to make one feel much closer to nature and get good feelings.

Image of goddess Kali
Kali who is said to be the blood thirsty wife of Lord Shiva represents the destructive aspect of cosmic energy or Shakti. In the representation of arts, she is generally shown having four hands and standing almost all naked on a dead human body, some times on Lord Shiva himself. She is black with long dishevelled hair. Her being black is believed to symbolise the immeasurable depth of ever watching time. She is also regarded as a great holder of time cycle which she is to keep moving without any stop. Her being depicted as standing up in restless mood with long dishevelled hair is to signify her non-stop activity. Her favourite jewellery is the garland of human heads which she always wears. Her four hands symbolise her power spreading in all four directions. One of her hands holds the head of a human being and other hand 
holds a drawn sword which she always used for killing mortal beings. And two of these hands, however, symbolise the primordial Energy which Kali particularly represents. It should be remembered in this context that Kali is both the act and the agency of the transformation. The cutting of the human head, by her symbolises the compulsory sacrifice that must be made by every matter form (mortal being) to be transformed into its supreme reality. The sharp sword she holds symbolises the supreme knowledge which is free from pride and prejudice and every cut of this divine sword symbolises her great act to keep the world going on. However, two of her other arms indicate the gesture of boon giving and assurance for protection of her devotees. Kali is a terrifying goddess only to the extent a time bomb can terrify an innocent mind. As a matter of fact time is terrible. Only the strong sense of sacrifice can make a man feel fine and free. This explains the main theme of the animal sacrifices to Kali.

Significance of animal sacrifice
 There are five kinds of animals sacrifice. They are: a water buffalo, a goat, a sheep; a duck and a chicken. According to an esoteric Shakti cult all these animals sacrifices symbolise the most undesirable human demerits. For example, a water buffalo which to me looks like a philosopher, symbolises anger. Likewise, a goat, a sheep, a duck and a chicken respectively symbolise lust, stupidity, apathy and timidity lt is said that one who cannot get rid of these five strong demerits can never reach the goddess Kali or the perfect stage of self-realisation.
 Sacrifice rituals
People usually choose the animal for sacrifice depending upon their status and wishes they make for worship. Sometimes the rich Hindu families bring all five kinds of animals for sacrifice and have their family priests perform the long ritualistic worship which is locally known as the Panch Vali Puja. Otherwise, the commonest animal for sacrifice is the chicken, next to which is the goat. The sheep and the ducks are sacrificed only in rare cases. However, those who cannot afford any of these sacrifice animals never forget to bring raw eggs which are also believed to symbolise the live animals. It is interesting to note that before the sacrifice starts, animals are taken down to the stream for purification bath and worshipped and fed with little bit of all the foods prepared for the occasion. After that the sacrificer will undergo the resolve rites with the priest seated right across and eventually sprinkle the holy water over the sacrifice animal and wait till the animal gives a thorough shake. This kind of ritual shake is regarded as a wishful consent of the animal for the sacrifice. It must be remembered here that the animal cannot be sacrificed until it gives an agreeable shake to the sacrificer. Another interesting thing to note that soon after the head of the animal is chopped off a small piece of its tail is immediately tucked in its mouth which is to signify that its beastly nature is now gone for ever. Another thing the sacrificers do with the head of the sacrificed animal is quite interesting too. They set the animal head right in front of the Kali image and make the ritual lamp on the top of the head which is said to signify that the animal is now all enlightened. In any case the sacrifice worshippers always make a big feast out of the sacrificed animals, enjoy themselves and have fun. In other words, they do not waste any thing of the sacrificed animals. They eat almost every thing of it. This is the story of sacrifice rituals and goddess Kali in a nutshell.