Dakshinkali Temple

Visiting Dakshinkali Temple was one of the highlights of my visit to Nepal. With that said, the temple is not for the feint of heart, and if you're coming to it from a Western tradition, you'll need to be open-minded and try to lift yourself out of your normal way of thinking about spirituality.

Devotees wait in a long line—two to three hours—to make an offerring.

“Ritual is a symbolic transformation of experience that no other medium can adequately express. Because it springs from a primary human need, it is spontaneous activity.”—Susan Langer

There is no light without darkness; there is no life without death. These are the things you will confront through all of your senses if you visit the temple. Religion is not a matter of belief, but experience.

After the ritual sacrifice, the animal's carcass is brought to the butcher who prepares it to take away where the meat will become part of a ritual meal.