The centuries-old Purani Tangla Habigaon Sarvajanik Durga-Shiva Mandir (temple), located on the outskirts of Tangla town of Udalguri which has been following the age-old ritual of sacrificing animals since its inception.
On Wednesday, the temple continued the tradition on Maha Asthami of Durga Puja with the sacrifice of a number of goats and two water buffaloes.
Hundreds of devotees and visitors throng the mandir premises every year to witness the ritual of animal sacrifice at the 500-year-old temple, on the day of Maha Ashtami.
The enthusiasm and devotion of the believers were evident as two water buffaloes and hundreds of goats and a large number of pigeons and ducks were brought for sacrifice before Goddess Durga by devotees from the nook and corners of the state.
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“People, irrespective of caste, community visit the mandir every year. Devotees have come from far-flung places like Tezpur, Bajali and Guwahati this year,” the president of Purani Tangla Habigaon Sarvajanik Durga Utsav Committee, Dilip Boro said.
“Our family has been offering goats to the temple for the past two decades and this year we have offered a water buffalo as offering to Goddess Durga,” said a devotee, Jogendra Saikia, an inhabitant of Tangla town of Udalguri district.