The Water Buffalo of Nepal

In December 2024, the Gadhimai festival, the largest animal sacrifice in the world was conducted in Nepal. Sadly, graphic images are widely circulated and have attracted international attention. 

The earliest evidence of water buffalo slaughter in South Asia can be found in the seal of the Indus Valley civilization. In Hinduism, Durga is believed to have slaughtered the Mahisasur, the buffalo demon around the beginning of the Christian era. 

In (Kathmandu Valley) Nepal Valley’s mythology, the second dynasty of Nepal was the Mahispal dynasty, the buffalo herder dynasty that ruled ancient Nepal for more than a century. This may have been the first string that created a strong connection between buffalo meat and the culture of Kathmandu Valley. The agencies belonging to the Government of Nepal provide more than a hundred buffaloes for the sacrifice in Taleju temples in Kathmandu for the yearly Dashain festival. 

According to legend, while King Harisingh Dev migrated from Simraungad towards Kathmandu, his army was hungry. The goddess Tulja Bhawani ordered them to eat the first animal they saw in the morning, which was the water buffalo. Harisign Dev’s dynasty later ruled Kathmandu Valley which then integrated and established Newari culture.

After the Shah dynasty came into power, people who ate buffalo meat were frowned upon. People have switched from cows to buffaloes as they are more profitable. Their milk is thicker, their manure makes for a good fertilizer, they require less medicine and after they are no longer productive they can be sold for their meat. 

People such as Nir Bahadur Thapa who has a Bachelor’s degree and used to teach students, now works as door-to-door milkman by raising 14 buffaloes and selling his milk.  

Buffalo skin is also used for the traditional Nagara drum. The 280 kg Nagara drum in Kothekhola Rural Municipality was created with buffalo skin and would be played in festivals around Dashain as well as Chaite Dashain. This is the biggest drum in Nepal!  

The wild water buffalo went extinct in the 1960s in Nepal, and repeated efforts to reintroduce them in Chitwan have failed. 

The Nepali water buffalo has many interesting facets; from from nature, religion, and Nepali cuisine.