A herd of buffaloes stand before they are slaughtered during a mass sacrifice ceremony at Gadhimai temple in the jungles of Bara district, about 160 miles (100 miles) south of Katmandu, Nepal, Friday, Nov. 28, 2014. A festival believed to be the largest animal sacrifice ritual in the world began Friday in southern Nepal, where devotees believe the sacrifices bring good luck and a Hindu goddess will grant their wishes. Organizers and the authorities defend the festival held every five years as a generations-old tradition, though animal rights activists decry it as barbaric. During the 2009 festival, an estimated 200,000 animals and birds were sacrificed. (AP Photo/Sunil Sharma)