Nepal airline sacrifices goats to appease sky god

Reuters ^ | September 4, 2007

[Stoat]

Nepal airline sacrifices goats to appease sky god

Tue 4 Sep 2007, 13:37 GMT

 

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Officials at Nepal's state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft, the carrier said on Tuesday.

Nepal Airlines, which has two Boeing aircraft, has had to suspend some services in recent weeks due the problem.

The goats were sacrificed in front of the troublesome aircraft on Sunday at Nepal's only international airport in Kathmandu in accordance with Hindu traditions, an official said.

"The snag in the plane has now been fixed and the aircraft has resumed its flights," said Raju K.C. (Eds: name correct), a senior airline official, without explaining what the problem had been.

Local media last week blamed the company's woes on an electrical fault. The carrier runs international flights to five cities in Asia.

It is common in Nepal to sacrifice animals like goats and buffaloes to appease different Hindu deities.

[RedRightReturn]

Note to self: NEVER fly Nepal Airlines.

[Larry Lucido]

I’d rather have the goats alive, in case we crash in the mountains.

[FreePaul]

I’m glad they finally appeased Akash Bhairab. Now I’ll feel a lot safer flying on Nepal Airlines. If only our local carriers could get with it we wouldn’t need homeland security checking everyone.

[CarrotAndStick]

Yea! it was wonderful and terrible
To view me as thou didst, dear Prince! The gods
Dread and desire continually to view!
Yet not by Vedas, nor from sacrifice,	335
Nor penance, nor gift-giving, nor with prayer
Shall any so behold, as thou hast seen!
Only by fullest service, perfect faith,
And uttermost surrender am I known
And seen, and entered into, Indian Prince!	340
Who doeth all for Me; who findeth Me
In all; adoreth always; loveth all
Which I have made, and Me, for Love’s sole end,
That man, Arjuna! unto Me doth wend.

 

[TexGuy]

"The snag in the plane has now been fixed and the aircraft has resumed its flights,"

Don't Laugh ... Some airline executive could see this article and implement this as a new cost cutting measure.

[Jonah Hex]

So, how many goat-hours per flight-hour of maintenance is required for a 757?

[FreePaul]

With regard to my previous post I would like to add the following comment. They should have sacrificed whatever necessary to appease the god of the ground (I don’t know his/her name} since the ground does more damage to the plane than the sky.

[Abathar]

Who cares about the stupid executive, I just hope the maintenance chief doesn’t believe in it...

[dvan]

I feel a lot safer now that we know how their “preventive maintence ‘ works. Don’t forget the BBQ sauce!

[Non-Sequitur]

Hey, if it works then maybe Northwest and Delta should try it. Might improve their on-time statistics.

[Stoat]

Officials at Nepal's state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god

 

 

Nepal Tourism Directory - Kathmandu,Travel Kathmandu, Nepal Kathmandu Travel ,Kathmandu Valley Travel, Kathmandu Travel Tours in Nepal, kingdom of Nepal Kathmandu

Akash Bhairav Temple:
A three storey temple in the main market avenue, called Indra Chowk, the image of Akash Bhairav is displayed outside for a week during Indara Jatra, the festival of Indra - the God of Rain.

 

 

(assuming that Akash Bhairab and Akash Bhairav are the same err....deity.)

[beethovenfan]

Yeah, that’ll help a lot.

[NavyCanDo]

For a safe landing at an airport sitting at 4,386 feet above sea level in an well aged airplane like this 757, I think I would be willing to sacrifice something.

[Stoat]

Don’t forget the BBQ sauce!

CURRIED GOAT

2 1/2 lbs. goat flesh 4 stalks escallion, diced 2 tbsp. curry powder Salt and black pepper 1 tbsp. butter 2 med. onions, diced 3 or 4 cloves of garlic Sprig of thyme About 1/3 of a Scotch Bonnet pepper (HOT PEPPER FINELY CUT)   Cut goat's flesh into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Season with salt, black pepper, crushed garlic, escallion, diced onions and 1 tablespoon curry powder. Let stand at least half an hour. Scrape off seasoning and lightly brown in hot fat. Add about 1 pint hot water and all the seasonings except onions. Cook over medium heat until fork tender - about 40 minutes. Add the second tablespoon curry powder, butter and the onions about 10 minutes before removing from the fire. The gravy should be of a consistency not to need any thickening. Serve hot with plain boiled rice.

Cooks.com - Recipe - Curried Goat

[EveningStar]

TaЯd ping!

"tard" refers to the ping list members and not necessarily the subject of the thread.

[shekkian]

Yeah, that oughtta do it.

(Gum pops out of crack in dam)

[LexBaird]

I wasn’t aware of the aerodynamic qualities of dead goats.

This new learning fascinates me, Sir Bedevere. Tell me again how one may employ sheep’s bladders to prevent earthquakes.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Hummm...cabrito !

[Stoat]

For a safe landing at an airport sitting at 4,386 feet above sea level in an well aged airplane like this 757, I think I would be willing to sacrifice something.

I'm visualizing what it might be like to be a traveler in that region....your plane experiences in-flight troubles, and you make an emergency landing.  You wait on the plane for several hours while you watch the mechanics work on the aircraft, and then they leave.  Then some well-dressed officials and religious representatives in traditional garb come on to the tarmac leading a couple of goats, which they bring to the front of the aircraft and slaughter.  The pilot comes on the plane's public-address system and says "This is your Captain speaking.  The aircraft has been repaired and the Sky God has been appeased.  We will now resume our flight."

Just another day I suppose.......

[Uncle Miltie]

I witnessed this in 1982.

Also, the father of the family I stayed with was a policeman. They sacrificed water buffalo, goats and chickens to their trucks, cars, and motorcycles, respectively. I took pictures.

The theory was approximately, "If the god of the wheel does not get it's blood through sacrifice, it will get its blood by driving over somebody."

On the same weekend, I think, we sacrificed a goat and ate it. Here's the head:

Mmm Mmmm Good!

[Lazamataz]

I’d rather have the goats alive, in case we crash in the mountains.

Yeah, cuz the women won't be "in the mood" after a crash like that.

[Slings and Arrows]

It'll also cut their budget for in-flight meals.

[Billthedrill]

There’s a Jet Blue joke in there somewhere, I just know there is.

[TexasRepublic]

At which point I would find an exit from the aircraft or else create one.

[I still care]

Somebody send this to jetblue. Maybe something like this might help their delay problems.

[Stoat]

I witnessed this in 1982.

Very interesting, thanks for posting.  Was this also in Nepal, and was this also done within the context of Hinduism?

Just curious.

[Uncle Miltie]

Separate Nepal / Goat story:

We were coming down out of the Himal from a month long trek, dirty, tired, and ready to get to Khatmandu for a festival.

About 40 miles out of town, a shepherd loaded his herd of goats onto the bus to take them to market. The bus was jammed with goats, and boy did they stink.

For the next 40 miles, this one goat had his neck pressed up against my right knee, since we were all jammed so tightly.

When the shepherd got off to take the goats to market, and the pressure of the herd eased, the goat at my knee FELL OVER DEAD! I guess his carotid was impinged for too long.

Since the bus was still quite crowded, we threw the goat out the window, and continued our merry way home.

Ha!

[onedoug]

Primitivism.

[Uncle Miltie]

There is a fall festival in Nepal in which everything with a wheel has some living thing sacrificed to it.

Even at our house, we sacrificed a fertilized chicken egg to the bicycles.

The wheel has a god in it, and it must be appeased!

[Hydroshock]

I once read a cartoon form some computer magazine in the late 1990’s. There were to sysadmins standing in front of some servers, on asked, “There has to be some sound technical reason we have to sacrifice a live chicken to the domain controllers every full moon.?”

[TexasMatty]

As long as they eat the goats, I see no problem.

[Stoat]

The wheel has a god in it, and it must be appeased!

I always knew there was something special about the stoatmobile, but what about the weinermobile?

I'm guessing that any in-depth discussions of a 'weinermobile god' would quickly cause this thread to be pulled......

 

[Uncle Miltie]

'weinermobile god'

Sounds like an incarnation of Shiva to me!

[fieldmarshaldj]

Sounds like the Jolly Fats Weehawkin Airlines.

[Lady Jag]

[ThomasThomas]

Dose Nepal airlines sever food on it’s flights?

[Jonah Hex]

It does now. :-)

[Uncle Miltie]

"Dose Nepal airlines sever food on it’s flights?"

Apparently you can get a dose of severed food. Water buffalo is on the menu.

[Balata]

I’ve flown Nepal Airlines several times. Mostly between Kathmandu and Baratnagar. On a couple of occasions a sack lunch was served with a sandwich. Now I know what was between those two slices of bread. LOL!

[ari-freedom]

Should’ve used Aflac!
naaaa!

[JoanVarga]

At last! A corporate strategy that Delt hasn't tried in the last 18 years.

[Stoat]

Dose Nepal airlines sever food on it’s flights?

Quite an appropriate typo, given the context of the article   :-)

As to whether they serve food, yes they do:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Royal Nepal Airlines, Royal Nepal Airlines Flights

Facilities7
 

• Exclusive meals in all classes
• Refreshments
• Cocktails
• Towels, blankets, closets in Business class
• Medical help

 

Nepal Airlines homepage

Welcome to NAC

[JoanVarga]

s/b Delta. duh.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

That’s the radish festival in Oaxaca.

[uglybiker]

I guess this means that they’ll be servig dinner on this flight.

[grjr21]

 

Officials at Nepal's state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft, the carrier said on Tuesday.

I know animal sacrifice is necessary to repair some electrical problems with Lucas electronics  but this is the first time I've heard of it being used with Boeing
 

[Bitsy]

I’d rather have the goats alive, in case we crash in the mountains.

I would rather have goat curry served with a nice Chianti.

[noah]

That should do it. Don’t we all feel more confident already?

[Larry Lucido]

And some fava beans?