Bhagabati Temple, Banapur

The temple of the goddess Bhagabati, the presiding deity of the Indian town Banapur has earned celebrity as a centre of religious activities.^{[1] [2]} Once Banapur was the capital of the Sailodhvaba dynasty, responsible for the construction of the early group of temples at Bhubaneswar. The large number of Buddhist images discovered at Banapur relate the place to the Vajrayana cult of Buddhism.

Animal Sacrifice

On 5 October 2010 the Orissa High Court has directed the state government to make sure that animal sacrifices are not conducted at the temple during the Dussehra celebration. At the Banapur Bhagabati temple such strict direction from the Orissa High Court was not admitted. Due to this the Khurda district administration has imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code on the temple in order to prevent the animal killing and sacrifices in the temple premise.^[3]

It has been a tradition to serve the goddess with animal sacrifices during the Dussehra celebrations but after the Orissa High Court ruling, eight platoons of police force have been deployed at the temple in order to maintain law and order.^[3] At the same time Maa Bhagbati Parampara Surakhya Mancha, a local organization supporting the traditional rituals, has decided to protest against the district administration and declared a bandh, including a hunger strike.^[4]

On 22 October 2010 the temple opened again after consecration by a group of Brahmins from Govardhana matha, Puri.^[4]

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