The Dhakamentary: Eid al-Adha: Bulls on Parade

Well all those cows from the market did not go to waste. The Eid al-Adha celebrations took place over the last couple days in Dhaka, and I had the days off to check out the festivities. The second Eid is one of the most holy times in the Islamic faith, and occurs one day after the end of the Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

In Dhaka, the sparing of Ishmael by the Judea-Christian-Muslim God is commemorated by sacrifice livestock. In many Arab countries this means goats or sheep, but in Dhaka it means cows. Lots of them. The bigger the cow or in some cases Brahman bull, the more expensive it is (up to $2,500 US), and therefore it is a kind of status symbol to sacrifice the most and biggest cows. Some families had a couple cows and four or more goats. I even saw a camel, which had to be imported, in Gulshan 2. It was tied to a tree by one of the main roads, and must have stood 11 feet tall. It's hard to imagine wrestling that thing to the ground in order to slaughter it.

I have refrained from embedding pictures into the text in case some people do not want to see all the gory details, but I'll outline the program for the day of slaughter in words. At about 7:30AM all of the Muslims go to mosque to have the sacrificial blades blessed and have Eid services. At about 8:20AM (when I got out of the house to walk around and take pictures), hundreds of people poured out of the mosque, many carrying two foot blades. By about 9:30AM the killing was in full swing, and it lasted until noon.

To sacrifice a cow, about four men are necessary. The first order is to tie the bovine's back hooves together and then tip it on its side. This was done with varying success, but for the most part the cows were docile, although I saw some vicious kicking. Once the cow is on its side (it cannot get back up without its hind legs free) a few people put their weight on different parts of the cow and the head is twisted so that the cow's face is on the ground, exposing the neck. A holy person makes the first cut across the cow's neck, making the sacrifice Halal (equivalent in significance to "Kosher"). Another man then finishes severing the cow's windpipe and major arteries, being careful not to damage the spinal cord so that the heart keeps beating for as long as possible. The idea is to get as much blood out as possible, which makes for quite the scene as this all occurs at the foot of people's driveways, and in the streets.

Once the cow has expired, a few men set about skinning the animal (a cow with no skin is a strange sight), and then butchering it. Nothing is thrown away. After the animal is completely butchered, poor people arrive to take the guts. Then there is a break for a couple hours to dress the meat and then more poor people come to beg for food. It was common to see someone walking down the street carrying a enormous rack of ribs, or a whole leg. As I stayed in relatively affluent neighborhoods, so there was a lot of meat and a lot of begging.

Reflecting on this experience, which was my first encounter with slaughter and butchering, I was a bit rattled, but somewhat steadied by the knowledge that literally every part of each cow would be used or consumed by someone. Ironically, this day of death was probably the happiest this city has felt to me since I've been here. People were dressed to kill (I couldn't help myself) in their finest clothes, and had a certain spark to their step. The festive atmosphere and excitement of the people was palpable, and there was a certainly energy that Dhaka often seems to lack. Like Christmas, Eid al-Adha brought joy and even some short lived abundance to this land.

Later in the day, I went to the American Club with a couple friends for a late lunch. For maybe the second time since I've been here, I didn't order a hamburger. Jimmy and Jason chowed down, but I decided to forgo the cow for now.

Here are some pictures, for those who wish to see:

My housemate Sara also took some great pictures in downtown Dhaka. They are much better than mine and you can check them out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/homeplacedrive/

People exiting a park at about 8:30 AM; beggars lining up for alms

A man walking down the street with a typical Eid knife

There were cows tied up everywhere... The choice of this place was particularly amusing, it must be a hard school to get into.

A group of teenagers strain to control a couple of cows who have caught onto what's happening.

The view from the roof of my friend's apartment. There were five cows in front of his building and the adjacent one on the right.

A group of people work on butchering a cow. This is not an especially remarkable scene, except for the fact that the window to my room at school is the one on the first level, far right.

This is how they hold the cow before slaughtering. A river of blood flows down street as workers cut the rope around the cows neck in preparation for the holy person.

Two men skin a cow in Baridhara DOHS

An enormous Brahman bull in Baridhara. There was a second, identical white bull earlier in the day... here's what happened to it:

All that's left is the head at this point. The people working on this bull invited me into the garage to see how they were butchering it. They were very proud of the size and beauty of the bull.