This film is part of Free
Gurkhas and Shillong Scenery
The festival of Dashian is celebrated in rural India - including scenes of animal sacrifice
Overview
Be warned, sections of this film are not for the queasy! Shot by an officer in one of the Gurkha regiments, it features views over the Sylhet plain in what is now Bangladesh, taken from the Khasi Hills in what was then Assam, now in Meghalaya. As part of footage of Gurkhas celebrating Dashian, a 15-day festival in honour of the rice harvest. During Dashian, animals are sacrificed by beheading with a ceremonial kukri (Gurkha knife). The ceremonies are followed by horseracing, golf, and shots of the surrounding countryside, plus a woman with a pram strolling in a very English-looking garden.
Some viewers may find the sacrifice disturbing (skip from approx. 04:23 to 05:35). The ritual involves severing the whole neck of the animal in one stroke; failing to achieve this is considered to be a very bad omen.
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