Hundreds of Pigeons Die in Kamakhya Temple, Assam

[Guest guest]

An interesting article appeared today about the Kamakhya Temple in

Assam, one of the most venerated Shakti shrines in India. For

members who are not familiar with this very special peetha (seat of

Shakti), Assam has traditionally been known as the Kamarupa Desa and

has long been associated with Tantric practices and Shakti worship.

The legend concerning the destruction of Daksha's sacrifice and the

Rudra Tandava of Shiva notes that parts of Sati's body fell at

various places throughout India, and these places are revered as

Shakti peethas. The Yoni of Sati is said to have fallen here. From

the sublime to the mundane -- here is the story:

 

GUWAHATI, India - 26 Feb 2004 07:33 (Reuters) - Hundreds of pigeons

have died of a bacterial infection in an ancient temple in northeast

India in the past two weeks, but doctors have ruled out bird flu as

the cause of their death.

 

Bhola Nath Sarma, spokesman of the hilltop Kamakhya temple in Assam,

said around 1,500 of an estimated 5,000 pigeons had just dropped

their heads and died.

 

"They just turn disoriented, drop their head and die. It's getting

worse every day and we are afraid the disease might infect

visitors," Sarma said.

 

Veterinary doctors who examined the birds said they were suffering

from a common bacterial infection called septicaemia, which could be

cured with antibiotics.

 

"These birds are not infected by the bird flu," Dr. Abdul Mukit told

Reuters on Thursday. "But they are flying all around the temple, so

it is impossible to inject medicine on all."

 

Tens of millions of chickens and other poultry have been slaughtered

in Thailand, Vietnam and China, three of the most severely affected

Asian countries, as health authorities battle to stamp out the virus

which erupted in mid-December.

 

Thousands of devotees visit the centuries-old stone temple to

sacrifice pigeons, goats and buffaloes and offer their blood to the

goddess of strength for their wellbeing.

 

Some just set animals and birds free within the shrine instead of

killing them. The large population of pigeons is mostly donated by

devotees.

 

Two years ago, temple priests sacrificed several animals for Nepal's

King Gyanendra when he visited the temple to pray for the wellbeing

of his family, provoking protests from animal rights activists.

 

http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp;:403dace9:a418cfb6b63b

035?type=topNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4441794

[Guest guest]

Are the pigeons cooked and eaten as <prasad> at the Kamakhya Temple?

(Sounds like a bad idea, if they're infected.)

 

I recall reading that Lord Shiva once lost his temper when too many of

his devotees were asking for boons, and he turned them all into pigeons.

Ever since then, Shiva temples have purportedly attracted flocks of

pigeons around them.

 

What sort of omen can be interpreted from flocks of pigeons dying around

the Kamakhya Temple? Is Lord Shiva displeased? (As a Shakti temple,

what are all those pigeons doing there? I think Durga temples are

supposed to attract monkeys -- Hanuman/ Langur Vir went into service of

Durga Devi after Lord Rama left his body.)

 

--Len/ Kalipadma

 

 

On Thu, 26 Feb 2004 14:29:31 -0000 "Devi Bhakta" <devi_bhakta

writes:

>

> GUWAHATI, India - 26 Feb 2004 07:33 (Reuters) - Hundreds of pigeons

> have died of a bacterial infection in an ancient temple in northeast

>

> India in the past two weeks, but doctors have ruled out bird flu as

> the cause of their death.

>

> Bhola Nath Sarma, spokesman of the hilltop Kamakhya temple in Assam,

>

> said around 1,500 of an estimated 5,000 pigeons had just dropped

> their heads and died.

>

> "They just turn disoriented, drop their head and die. It's getting

> worse every day and we are afraid the disease might infect

> visitors," Sarma said.

>

> Veterinary doctors who examined the birds said they were suffering

> from a common bacterial infection called septicaemia, which could be

>

> cured with antibiotics.

>

> "These birds are not infected by the bird flu," Dr. Abdul Mukit told

>

> Reuters on Thursday. "But they are flying all around the temple, so

> it is impossible to inject medicine on all."

>

> Tens of millions of chickens and other poultry have been slaughtered

>

> in Thailand, Vietnam and China, three of the most severely affected

> Asian countries, as health authorities battle to stamp out the virus

>

> which erupted in mid-December.

>

> Thousands of devotees visit the centuries-old stone temple to

> sacrifice pigeons, goats and buffaloes and offer their blood to the

> goddess of strength for their wellbeing.

>

> Some just set animals and birds free within the shrine instead of

> killing them. The large population of pigeons is mostly donated by

> devotees.

>

> Two years ago, temple priests sacrificed several animals for Nepal's

>

> King Gyanendra when he visited the temple to pray for the wellbeing

> of his family, provoking protests from animal rights activists.

>

> http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp;:403dace9:a418cfb6b63b

> 035?type=topNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4441794

>

 

 

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