Thousands of Hindu devotees from Nepal and India gather at the Gadhimai temple to honour their goddess of power. Held every five years, the Gadhimai festival is marked by rituals, prayers, and the controversial slaughter of hundreds of thousands of animals, primarily buffaloes and goats.

Worshippers spend days in the open, offering prayers and preparing for the festival at the flower-adorned temple. Despite ongoing legal efforts to reduce animal sacrifices, the tradition persists, drawing both fervent devotion and global attention.

Here are glimpses of this year’s Gadhimai celebrations, captured through the lens of The Post’s photojournalist, Prakash Chandra Timilsena: