Animal sacrifice in Hinduism
Open-knowledge reference entry
The practice of Hindu animal sacrifice is in recent times mostly associated with Shaktism, and in currents of folk Hinduism strongly rooted in local popular or tribal traditions. Animal sacrifices were an important part of the ancient Vedic Era in India, and are mentioned in the Vedas as Yajna. Over the period, the shape of rituals and sacrifice changed with the shifting of the pastoral economy of the Early-vedic period to an agricultural economy of the Later-vedic. This shift in economy also impacted the rituals and sacrifice, replacing animal sacrifice with grains (rice, wheat, etc.) in Srauta Yajnas. During the Medieval period, religious movements like the Bhakti movement also had a great impact on this tradition, as is evident in Hindu scripture like the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, which forbids the Srauta Asvamedha Horse sacrifice in Kali Yuga. The perception that animal sacrifice was only practiced in the ancient Non-Vedic Era is opposed by instances like Srauta Ashvamedha and other rituals that are rooted in the Vedas. Both the Itihasas and the Puranas like the Devi Bhagavata Purana and the Kalika Purana as well as the Saiva and Sakta Agamas prescribe animal sacrifices.
Terminology
A Sanskrit term used for animal sacrifice is bali, in origin meaning "tribute, offering or oblation" generically ("vegetable oblations [... and] animal oblations,").
Bali among other things "refers to the blood of an animal" and is sometimes known as Jhatka Bali among Hindus.
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