Environmental Graffiti

Nepal’s Annual Goat Beheadings [Graphic Images]

Walking through the crowds and past crippled beggars, midst the heady smell of incense, those who have come to participate in the puja find themselves caught up a throng of people waiting to get to the sacrificial temple. Once there, to the tune of exultant music played by other onlookers, they witness the animal slaughter. The slaughterer’s arm is raised and then the blade is swiftly brought down with a sickening thud, severing the creature’s head.

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The Legend of the Man-Eating Tree of Madagascar

The year is 1878. The place: the steaming, savage jungles of Madagascar. Machete in hand, German explorer Carl Liche leads a group of Mkodo tribesmen through this terra incognita to find something no white man has ever seen before. Entering a clearing, Liche suddenly halts, frozen by the sight that stands before him. A legend is about to be born which will refuse to die...

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Yadnya Kasada: The Javanese Volcano Festival

Soaring nearly 8,000 feet high above the East Javanese horizon, Mount Bromo coughs up deadly pillars of toxic volcanic steam, sand and sulphur. But the locals don't run from this giant tourist draw. They climb towards it. This time of year, you see, is when they feed the volcano during the annual festival of Yadnya Kasada, which is observed by the Tenggerese people of Indonesia.

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