S(t)eeped in blood: Hindu devotees sacrifice animals in Deodhani festival

Goats and pigeons are offered as sacrifice in belief that participants receive supernatural power from goddess during festival. (Photos: AP, PTI)

A Hindu priest dances as he carries a sacrificial goat in a procession during the three-day long Deodhani festival, at Kamakhya temple in Guwahati.

A Hindu priest walks in a procession during the three-day long Deodhani festival.

Hindu priests, faces smeared with color and sacrificial blood, perform rituals during Deodhani festival at the Kamakhya Hindu temple in Gauhati.

A Hindu priest, face smeared with color and sacrificial blood, performs rituals during Deodhani festival at the Kamakhya Hindu temple in Gauhati.

A Hindu priests, face smeared with color and sacrificial blood, participates in Deodhani festival at the Kamakhya temple.

Goats and pigeons are commonly offered as sacrifice in the belief that participants receive supernatural power from goddess Kamakhya during the festival held to worship the serpent Goddess.

Children offer garlands to a hindu priest during Deodhani festival at the Kamakhya temple in Gauhati.

A Hindu priest, face smeared with color and sacrificial blood, performs rituals during Deodhani festival at the Kamakhya Hindu temple in Gauhati.

A young girl waits to offer flowers to Hindu priests during Deodhani festival at the Kamakhya Hindu temple in Gauhati.