Kerala Temple seeks blood donation from devotees for ritual during annual festival

A public notice has reportedly been issued by a temple in Vithura village of Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram appealing the devotees to donate blood to the temple ahead of the celebration of an annual festival.

The blood is needed to perform ‘Abhishek’ and bathe the idol of goddess Kali on the festival.

The fourteen-day annual festival, scheduled to begin on March 11 and will go on till March 24 and ‘Abhishek’ will be performed on the idol of goddess Kali on the second day using the human blood collected through donation.

The ritual, called ‘Kaliyoottu Mahotsavam' which translates to ‘Grand festival to feed Kali’ is scheduled for March 12 at 6 PM

The notice about the annual festival celebrations at the temple - 'Deviyodu Srividuari Vaidyanatha Temple’, called 'Mahaghora Kaliyajnam' specifies that the blood will be collected by government-approved experts using disposable syringes, and in small quantities.