In recent months, two different Hindu cults in India have begun to embrace ancient sacrifice rituals, one using horses and the other using the “Nara bali” practice of human sacrifice. In the village of Juna Padia, Assam, 150 priests participate in ceremonies to slaughter 10 horses and collect their deified blood for, they say, peace and prosperity. And in the state of Orissa, because of a paucity of human volunteers to sacrifice, the Kamakhya Temple cult uses human-size effigies made of flour, which its leaders insist are just as powerful in impressing divine forces.
[BBC News, 4-3-02] [Washington Times, 4-11-02]