title: Bacolod

text: On February 11, 1802, Fr. Eusebio Laurencio became acting parish priest of Bacolod. In September 1806, Fr. León Pedro was appointed interim parish priest and the following year became the first regular parish priest. In September 1817, "Fray" () Julián Gonzaga from Barcelona was appointed as the parish priest. He encouraged the people to settle once again near the sea. He also encouraged migration to Bacolod and the opening of lands to agriculture and industry.


title: Bacolod

text: In 1846, upon the request of Romualdo Jimeno, bishop of Cebu and Negros at that time, Governor-General Narciso Clavería y Zaldúa sent to Negros a team of Recollect missionaries headed by priest Fernando Cuenca. A decree of June 20, 1848, by "Gobernador General" Clavería ordered the restructuring of Negros politically and religiously. The following year (1849), Negros Island "Gobernadorcillo" Manuel Valdevieso y Morquecho transferred the capital of the Province of Negros from Himamaylan to Bacolod and the Augustinian Recollects were asked to assume spiritual administration of Negros, which they did that same year. Transfer of Bacolod to the Recollects, however, took place only in 1871. "Fray" Mauricio Ferrero became the first Augustinian Recollect parish priest of Bacolod and successor to the secular priest, Fr. Mariano Ávila. In 1863, a compulsory primary public school system was set up.


title: Bacolod

text: In 1889, Bacolod became the capital of "Occidental Negros" when the Province of Negros was politically divided into the separate provinces of "Occidental Negros" (Spanish: "Negros Occidental") and "Oriental Negros" (Spanish: "Negros Oriental").


title: Bacolod

text: The success of the uprising in Bacolod and environs was attributed to the low morale of the local imperial Spanish detachment, due to its defeat in Panay and Luzon and to the psychological warfare waged by Generals Aniceto Lacson and Juan Araneta. In 1897, a battle in Bacolod was fought at Matab-ang River. A year later, on November 5, 1898, the "Negrense Revolucionarios" (), armed with knives, bolos, spears, and rifle-like nipa palm stems, and pieces of "sawali" or "amakan" mounted on carts, captured the convent, presently "Palacio Episcopal" (), where Colonel Isidro de Castro y Cisneros, well-armed "cazadores" () and platoons of "Guardias Civiles" (), surrendered.


title: Bacolod

text: On November 7, 1898, most of the revolutionary army gathered together to establish a provisional junta and to confirm the elections of Aniceto Lacson as president, Juan Araneta as war-delegate, as well as the other officials. For a brief moment, the provinces of "Occidental Negros" and "Oriental Negros" were reunited under the cantonal government of the "Negrense Revolucionarios", from November 6, 1898, to the end of February 1899, making Bacolod the capital. In March 1899, the American forces led by Colonel James G. Smith occupied Bacolod, the revolutionary capital of "República Cantonal de Negros" (). They occupied Bacolod after the invitation of the Republic of Negros which sought protectorate status for their nation under the United States.


title: Bacolod

text: The Cantonal Republic of Negros became a U.S. territory on April 30, 1901. This separated Negros Island once again, reverting Bacolod to its status as the capital of "Occidental Negros".


title: Bacolod

text: The public school of "Instituto Rizal" () opened its doors to students on July 1, 1902. "Colegio de Nuestra Señora de la Consolación" (), the first private institution in the province of Negros Occidental, was established in Bacolod by the Augustinian sisters on March 11, 1919, and opened in July 1919.


title: Bacolod

text: A historic event took place in 1938 when Municipality of Bacolod was elevated into a city through Commonwealth Act No. 326 passed by the 1st National Assembly of the Philippines creating the City of Bacolod. Assemblyman Pedro C. Hernáez of the second district of Negros Occidental sponsored the bill. The law was passed on June 18, 1938. Bacolod was formally inaugurated as a chartered city on October 19, 1938, by virtue of Commonwealth Act No. 404, highlighted by the visit of Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon. President Quezon appointed Alfredo Montelíbano, Sr. as the first city mayor of Bacolod.


title: Bacolod

text: In World War II, Bacolod was occupied by the Japanese forces on May 21, 1942. Lieutenant General Kawano "Kono" Takeshi, the Japanese commanding officer of the 77th Infantry Brigade, 102nd Division, seized the homes of Don Generoso Villanueva, a prominent sugar planter—whose home, the Daku Balay served as the "seat of power" (occupational headquarters for the Japanese Forces in Negros and all of the Central Visayan region of the Philippines) and being the tallest building of Bacolod it served as the city's watchtower—and the home of his brother-in-law, Don Mariano Ramos, the first appointed Municipal President of Bacolod. The home of Don Generoso was lived in by Lt. General Takeshi throughout the duration of the war and also served as his office and the home of Don Mariano was occupied by a Japanese Colonel serving under the command of Lt. General Takeshi. The city was liberated by joint Philippine and American forces on May 29, 1945. It took time to rebuild the city after liberation. However, upon the orders of Lt. General Takeshi, both the homes of Villanueva and Ramos were saved from destruction by the retreating Japanese forces.


title: Bacolod

text: In March 1945, upon the invasion of the American and Philippine Commonwealth forces, the withdrawal of the Japanese army into the mountains and the temporary occupation of Bacolod by the combined U.S. and Philippine Commonwealth armed forces, the house of Villanueva was then occupied by Major General Rapp Brush, commander of the 40th Infantry Division, known as the "Sun Burst" Division, for approximately five months. The local Philippine military built and established the general headquarters and camp bases of the Philippine Commonwealth Army which was active from January 3, 1942, to June 30, 1946. The 7th Constabulary Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary was also active from October 28, 1944, to June 30, 1946, and was stationed in Bacolod during and after World War II.


title: Bacolod

text: When the country finally gained independence from the United States, the city's public markets and slaughterhouses were rebuilt during the administration of then Mayor Vicente Remitió from 1947 to 1949. In 1948, a fire razed a portion of the records section of the old city hall that consumed the rear end of the building and with it, numerous priceless documents of the city.


title: Bacolod

text: Bacolod was classified as a highly urbanized city. On September 27, 1984, by the provision of Section 166 and 168 of


title: Bacolod

text: In January 1985, the original hardwood and coral structure of "Palacio Episcopal" was almost entirely destroyed by a fire. Among the damage of the raging fire were items of significant historical value. The reconstruction of "Palacio" which took more than two years, was completed in 1990.


title: Bacolod

text: In 2008, Bacolod topped a survey by "MoneySense Magazine" as the "Best Place to Live in the Philippines". The city has also been declared by the Department of Science and Technology as a "center of excellence" for information technology and business process management operations. In 2017 & 2019, Bacolod was awarded the ""Top Philippine Model City"" as the most livable urban center in the country by The Manila Times. In 2021, Bacolod received the "2021 Most Business-Friendly Local Government Unit (LGU) Award" under the category of highly-urbanized cities outside the National Capital Region (NCR) in the search organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI). This was the second time Bacolod received such award having won the same title in 2007.


title: Bacolod

text: Bacolod is located on the northwestern coast of the large island of Negros. Within the island, it is bounded on the north by the city of Talisay, on the east by the town of Murcia and on the south by the city of Bago. As a coastal city, it is bounded on the west by the Guimaras Strait, serving as a natural border of northwestern Negros Island Region to the neighboring Western Visayas. The global location of Bacolod is 10 degrees, 40 minutes 40 seconds - north and 122 degrees 54 minutes 25 seconds - east with Bacolod Public Plaza as the benchmark.


title: Bacolod

text: Bacolod has a total land area of , including straits and bodies of water and the reclamation area; and is composed of 61 barangay (villages) and 639 purok (smaller units composing a barangay/village). It is accessible by sea through the ports of Banago; the BREDCO Port in the Reclamation Area, and the port of Pulupandan. By air, it is accessible through the Bacolod–Silay International Airport, which is approximately 13 (four is counting from the Lagoon) kilometers away from the center of the city.


title: Bacolod

text: Bacolod is ideally located on a level area, slightly sloping down as it extends toward the sea with an average slope of 0.9 percent for the city proper and between 3 and 5 percent for the suburbs. The altitude is above sea level, with the Bacolod City Public Plaza as the benchmark. Bacolod has two pronounced seasons, wet and dry. The rainy (wet) season starts from May to January of the following year with heavy rains occurring during the months of August and September. The dry season starts from the month of February until the last week of April.


title: Bacolod

text: As of 2020, Bacolod has a total population of 600,783, and its registered voting population is 312,816 voters (2019).


title: Bacolod

text: Bacolod is the Philippines' third fastest growing economy in terms of information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing (BPO) activities. The city has been recommended by the Information and Communication Technology Office of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) as the best location in the Visayas for BPO activities.


title: Bacolod

text: Bacolod ranked 3rd among the top ten "Next Wave Cities" of the Philippines for the best location for BPO and offshoring according to a 2010 report of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology. In 2013, the city was declared a "center of excellence" for IT-business process management operations by the DOST, joining the ranks of Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Clark Freeport Zone.


title: Bacolod

text: Among the notable BPO and KPO companies operating in the city are Concentrix, Teleperformance, TTEC, iQor, Transcom, Ubiquity Global Services, Panasiatic Solutions, Focus Direct Inc. – Bacolod, Pierre and Paul Solutions Inc., TELESYNERGY Corp. – Bacolod, Hit Rate Solutions/Next Level IT Teleservices Inc., Focusinc Group Corporation (FGC Plus), Pathcutters Philippines Inc., TeleQuest Voice Services (TQVS), ARB Call Facilities Inc., Fair Trade Outsourcing, and Global Strategic Business Process Solutions.


title: Bacolod

text: In 2012, a portion of the Paglaum Sports Complex was partitioned for the construction of the provincial government-owned Negros First CyberCentre (NFCC) as an IT-BPO Outsourcing Hub with a budget of P674-million. It is located at Lacson corner Hernaez Streets and offers up to 22,000 square meters of mixed IT-BPO and commercial spaces. Its facilities are divided into three sections — Information Technology, Commercial Support Facilities, and Common IT Facilities. It was inaugurated in April 2015 in rites led by President Benigno S. Aquino III. The area was initially a residential zone and has been reclassified as a commercial zone as approved by the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance.


title: Bacolod

text: Along its highways, sugarcane plantations are a typical scene. As of 2003, of the city's of agricultural land were still planted with sugarcane. Meanwhile, were devoted to rice, to assorted vegetables, to coconut, to banana and to corn.


title: Bacolod

text: According to the "Philippine Cities Competitiveness Ranking Project 2005" of Asian Institute of Management (AIM), Bacolod tops the list in terms of infrastructure, ahead of such other mid-size cities like Iligan, Calamba and General Santos. The city also tops the list in terms of quality of life, ahead of such other mid-size cities like San Fernando, Baguio, Iloilo and Lipa. AIM also recognized Bacolod as one of the "Top Five" most competitive mid-size cities together with Batangas, Iligan, Iloilo, and San Fernando.


title: Bacolod

text: Bacolod hosted the 2005 Southeast Asian Games Football tournament, the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship qualification, the 2010 AFC U-16 Championship qualification and the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification play-off first leg was held at the Panaad Stadium where the Philippines won 2–0 over Mongolia. Likewise the city has the home football stadium of the Philippines national football team (Azkals).


title: Bacolod

text: The Philippines Football League side Ceres–Negros F.C. is based in the city, playing their home games at the newly renovated Panaad Stadium.


title: Bacolod

text: Since Bacolod is also being tagged as a "Football City" in the country, an ordinance was approved by the City Council in June 2015, setting the third week of the month of April every year as the "Bacolod City Football Festival Week".


title: Bacolod

text: 2008 PBA All-Star Weekend was held in the city and since then has been a regular venue of Philippine Basketball Association out-of-town games. Also, the Sandugo Unigames 2012 was hosted by the city participated by various universities around the country notably those who compete in the UAAP.


title: Bacolod

text: The city was also the home of the Negros Slashers of the now-defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association, playing their home games at the USLS Coliseum.


title: Bacolod

text: The 1996 Philippine Karatedo Federation (PKF) National Championships and the 20th PKF National Open 2007 were held in the city. Both events were hosted by La Salle Coliseum of the University of St. La Salle. The tournaments were contested by hundreds of karatekas all over the country.


title: Bacolod

text: There are two major golf courses in the city; the Bacolod Golf and Country Club and the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club. The city hosted the 61st Philippine Airlines Inter-club Golf Tournament and the 2008 Philippine Amateur Golf Championship. A Golf tournament sponsored by the City Mayor is also held every Masskara.


title: Bacolod

text: Bacolod is home to many mixed martial arts competitions including quarterly fights hosted by the Universal Reality Combat Championship.


title: Bacolod

text: The MassKara Festival (Hiligaynon: Pista sang Maskara, Filipino: Fiesta ng Maskara) is an annual festival held on the fourth Sunday of October in Bacolod. Dancers wear masks, which is where the festival gets its name.


title: Bacolod

text: The Panaad sa Negros Festival, or just the Panaad Festival (sometimes spelled as Pana-ad), is a festival held annually during the month of April. Panaad is the Hiligaynon word for "vow" or "promise"; the festival is a form of thanksgiving to Divine Providence and commemoration of a vow in exchange for a good life.


title: Bacolod

text: The celebration is held at the Panaad Park, which also houses the Panaad Stadium, and is participated in by the 13 cities and 19 towns of the province. For this reason, the province dubs it the "mother" of all its festivals.


title: Bacolod

text: Bacolod's Chinese New year Festival. It comes from the word "Bacolod" and "Lao Diat" which means celebration.


title: Bacolod

text: The Panaad Park and Sports Complex is a multi-purpose park in the city owned by the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental. Situated in the complex is the Panaad Stadium which is currently used mostly for football matches. It is the home stadium of Philippines Football League team Ceres–Negros F.C. It was used for the 2005 South East Asian Games and was the venue of the pre-qualifiers of the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship or ASEAN Cup.


title: Bacolod

text: The stadium has a seating capacity of 15,500, but holds around 20,000 people with standing areas. It is unofficially designated as the home stadium of the Philippines national football team. Aside from the football field, it also has a rubberized track oval, an Olympic-size swimming pool and other sports facilities.


title: Bacolod

text: The stadium is also the home of Panaad sa Negros Festival, a week-long celebration participated in by all cities and municipalities in the province held annually every summer. The festival is highlighted by merry-making, field demonstrations, pageant and concert at the stadium. The stadium itself features replicas of the landmarks of the 13 cities and 19 municipalities of Negros Occidental.


title: Bacolod

text: The Bacolod Public Plaza is one of the notable landmarks in Bacolod, the capital of Negros Occidental, which is found right in the heart of downtown area, very near to the city hall and right across the San Sebastian Cathedral.


title: Bacolod

text: The plaza is the celebrated place of MassKara Festival. It is a week-long festival held each year in Bacolod City every third weekend of October nearest October 19, the city's Charter Anniversary. Bacolod public plaza is the final destination of Masskara street dancing competitions which is the highlights of the celebration.


title: Bacolod

text: The Capitol Park and Lagoon is a provincial park located right in the heart of Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, in the Philippines. One of the landmarks of the park is the carabao (water buffalo) being reared by a woman. This carabao is located at the northern end of the lagoon. On the southern end, there is also another carabao sculpture being pulled by a man. Locals are known to feed pop corns, pop rice, and other edible delicacies sold within the park to the fishes in the lagoon.


title: Bacolod

text: Negros Museum is a privately owned provincial museum situated in the Negros Occidental Provincial Capitol Complex in Bacolod City, Philippines. The structure was built in 1925 as the Provincial Agriculture Building. Negros Museum Cafe serves the needs of museum goers and walk-in guests, situated in the West Annex of the museum. It includes a separate entrance, which includes an open-air and an in-house station occasionally used for small theater plays and art exhibitions. The cafe and the resident chef serves as the official caterer of the Office of the Governor and the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental for official dignitary functions


title: Bacolod

text: The Paglaum Sports Complex is a provincial-owned sports venue adjacent to the Negros Occidental High School established during the 1970s that hosted various football events, such as the 1991 Philippines International Cup and the football event of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games. It also hosted three editions of the Palarong Pambansa (1971, 1974, 1979). However, the stadium became unfit to host football matches following the erection of business establishments around the area. In 2012, a two-hectare portion of the four-hectare complex was partitioned for the construction of the Capitol-owned Negros First CyberCentre (NFCC) as an IT-BPO Outsourcing Hub. As of 2013, the provincial government has been proposing for a renovation of the stadium to serve as alternative venue to Panaad Park and Sports Complex, particularly for football competition. Recently, the Paglaum Sports Complex also serves as an alternative venue to the Bacolod Public Plaza for the MassKara Festival celebration.


title: Bacolod

text: The Negros Occidental Multi-Purpose Activity Center (NOMPAC) is a provincial-owned multi-use gym adjacent to the Capitol Park and Lagoon. It is currently used mostly for basketball, karatedo and boxing matches. Aside from the gym, it also serves as evacuation site of the province during calamities likewise also serves as cultural facilities in many events.


title: Bacolod

text: The Bacolod Arts & Youth Sports Center (BAYS Center) is a multi-use gym fronting the Bacolod Public Plaza. It is used mostly for basketball, karatedo and boxing matches, and was previously used in events in the city like the MassKara Festival activities and other government related activities like seminars, business and political gatherings.


title: Bacolod

text: The gym has a seating capacity of more than a thousand. It is officially designated as the COMELEC tally headquarters for both local and national election in the Philippines.


title: Bacolod

text: The Bacolod Baywalk is a privately owned esplanade situated near the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corporation (BREDCO) at the city's Reclamation Area. It was first opened in 2013 and re-opened to the public in 2022.


title: Bacolod

text: Art District located along Lacson Street is known for its street art mural and graffiti, restaurants and nightlife.


title: Bacolod

text: Bacolod has one public tertiary teaching-learning hospital under the direct management of the Department of Health – Regional Office VI (regional hospital): the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH). In September 2022, as per Republic Act 11564, the city government-owned Bacolod City General Hospital held its groundbreaking and is expected to be completed and operational before 2024. The Bacolod City Health Office is responsible for the implementation and planning of the health care programs provided by the city government, which also operates and supervises Health Centers in the barangays of the city. Private hospitals in Bacolod that provide tertiary care include the: Dr. Pablo O. Torre Memorial Hospital (owned and operated by The Riverside Medical Center Inc.); The Doctors' Hospital Inc.; Adventist Medical Center – Bacolod; Bacolod Queen of Mercy Hospital; South Bacolod General Hospital and Medical Center Inc., Metro Bacolod Hospital and Medical Center; and the upcoming Asia–Pacific Medical Center Bacolod Inc.


title: Bacolod

text: Bacolod currently has 4 large universities and more than a dozen other schools specializing in various courses. Currently, as sanctioned by the Department of Education, all primary and secondary institutions in the city use the K-12 educational system.


title: Bacolod

text: The Bacolod–Silay Airport, located in nearby City of Silay, is 15 kilometers north-east from Bacolod. Bacolod is 1 hour by air from Manila, 30 minutes by air from Cebu, 1 hour by air from Cagayan de Oro and 1 hour and 10 minutes by air from Davao City.


title: Bacolod

text: Bacolod City Domestic Airport was the former airport serving the general area of Bacolod. It was one of the busiest airports in the Western Visayas region, when Bacolod and Negros Occidental were both still part of it. This airport was later replaced by the new Bacolod–Silay International Airport, located in Silay. It was classified as such by the Air Transportation Office, a body of the Department of Transportation that is responsible for the operations of all other airports in the Philippines except the major international airports. The Bacolod City Domestic Airport ceased operations on January 17, 2008, prior to the opening of the Bacolod–Silay International Airport which began operations the day after.


title: Bacolod

text: Banago Wharf and BREDCO Port are the vessels entry point in Bacolod. It has daily access to Iloilo, with different shipping lines such as 2GO Travel (as relaunched in 2012), Weesam Express, OceanJet, Montenegro Lines, Supercat, FastCat, and Tri-Star Mega Link.


title: Bacolod

text: There were also access routes previously to Puerto Princesa via Iloilo City, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Zamboanga City, Cotabato, Butuan via Cagayan de Oro route, Dipolog, Iligan, Ozamiz, and Surigao City via Cagayan de Oro route.


title: Bacolod

text: As of 2012 to present, SuperFerry and Negros Navigation was relaunched into 2GO Travel with routes from Bacolod going Manila, Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro. Bacolod is 18–23 hours from the Port of Manila, 12–15 hours from the Port of Cagayan de Oro, 2-3hrs from Dumangas Port and 1hr from the Port of Iloilo.


title: Bacolod

text: Bacolod has two main roads, Lacson Street to the north and Araneta Street to the south. The streets in the downtown area are one way, making Bacolod free from traffic congestion. Recently, Bacolod City is experiencing an increase in traffic congestion due to an increase in number of vehicles.


title: Bacolod

text: By land-ferry, Bacolod is approximately an hour directly from Iloilo City while by land-RORO-land, Bacolod is approximately 3 hours from Iloilo City via Dumangas route. By land-ferry-land, Bacolod City is approximately 4 hours and 30 minutes from Cebu City via Toledo-San Carlos/Salvador Benedicto route while it takes approximately 6 hours by land-RORO-land via same route. By land-RORO-land, Bacolod is approximately 7 hours and 30 minutes from Cebu City via Tabuelan-Escalante, Toledo-San Carlos/Escalante and Toledo-San Carlos/Canlaon routes. Bacolod to Dumaguete via Mabinay route is approximately 6 hours while via Cadiz-San Carlos route takes approximately 8 hours, both routes going Negros Oriental. Bacolod is from Dumaguete City via Kabankalan-Mabinay-Bais Road.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta (, , "She whose head is severed"), often spelled Chinnamasta, and also called Ch(h)innamastika and Prachanda Chandika and Jogani Maa (in western states of India), is a Hindu goddess (Devi). She is one of the Mahavidyas, ten goddesses from the esoteric tradition of Tantra, and a ferocious aspect of Mahadevi, the Hindu Mother goddess. The self-decapitated nude goddess, usually standing or seated on a divine copulating couple, holds her own severed head in one hand and a scimitar in another. Three jets of blood spurt out of her bleeding neck and are drunk by her severed head and two attendants.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta is a goddess of contradictions. She symbolises both aspects of Devi: a life-giver and a life-taker. She is considered both a symbol of sexual self-control and an embodiment of sexual energy, depending upon interpretation. She represents death, temporality, and destruction as well as life, immortality, and recreation. The goddess conveys spiritual self-realization and the awakening of the kundalini – spiritual energy. The legends of Chhinnamasta emphasise her self-sacrifice – sometimes coupled with a maternal element – sexual dominance, and self-destructive fury.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta is worshipped in the sect of Shaktism, the Goddess-centric tradition of Hinduism. Though Chhinnamasta enjoys patronage as one of the Mahavidyas, temples devoted to her (found mostly in Nepal and eastern India) and her public worship are rare. However, she is a significant Tantric deity, well known and worshipped among esoteric Tantric practitioners. Chhinnamasta is closely related to Chinnamunda – the severed-headed form of the Tibetan Buddhist goddess Vajrayogini.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The Hindu Chhinnamasta appears as a significant deity in Tantric and Tibetan Buddhism, where she is called Chinnamunda ("she with the severed head") or Trikaya-vajrayogini ("triple-bodied Vajrayogini"). Chinnamunda is the severed-head form of goddess Vajrayogini (or Vajravarahi, a ferocious form of Vajrayogini), who is depicted similar to Chhinnamasta.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Buddhist texts recount the birth of the Buddhist Chinnamunda. One tale tells of Krishnacharya's disciples, two "Mahasiddha" ("great perfected ones") sisters, Mekhala and Kanakhala, who cut their heads, offered them to their guru, and then danced. The goddess Vajrayogini also appeared in this form and danced with them. Another story recalls how the "Mahasiddha" princess Lakshminkara, cut off her head as a punishment from the king and roamed with it in the city, where citizens extolled her as Chinnamunda-Vajravarahi.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: In the early decades of the 20th century, Benoytosh Bhattacharya – an expert on Tantra and the then director of the Oriental Institute of Baroda – studied various texts such as the Buddhist "Sadhanamala" (1156CE), the Hindu "Chhinnamastakalpa" (uncertain date), and the "Tantrasara" by Krishnananda Agamavagisha (late 16th century). He determined that the Hindu Chhinnamasta and the Buddhist Chinnamunda were the same goddess, in spite of the fact that the former wears a serpent as a sacred thread and has an added copulating couple in the icon. In the "Sadhanamala", the goddess is called Sarvabuddha ("all-awakened"), and is attended by Vajravaironi and Vajravarnini; in the Hindu "Tantrasara", she is called "Sarvasiddhi" ("all-accomplished"), and is accompanied by attendants Dakini, Vaironi, and Varnini. In the "Chhinnamastakalpa", she is called Sarvabuddhi ("all-enlightened"); her attendants retain their Buddhist names. Bhattacharyya concluded that the Hindu Chhinnamasta originated from the Buddhist Chinnamunda, who was worshipped by at least the 7th century.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: While Bhattacharyya's view is mostly undisputed, some scholars such as S. Shankaranarayanan – the author of "The Ten Great Cosmic Powers" – attribute Chhinnamasta to Vedic (ancient Hindu) antecedents. Sukumari Bhattacharji, the author of "The Indian Theogony", says that the Vedic goddess Nirrti's functions were inherited by later Hindu goddesses Kali, Chamunda, Karali, and Chhinnamasta. Hindu literature first mentions Chhinnamasta in the "upapurana" "Shakta Maha-bhagavata Purana" (c.950CE) and the "Devi-Bhagavata Purana" (9th–12th century). ElisabethA. Benard, the author of "Chinnamastā: The Aweful Buddhist and Hindu Tantric Goddess", says that whatever her origins may be, it is clear that Chhinnamasta/Chinnamunda was known in the 9th century and worshipped by "Mahasiddha"s. Though essentially agreeing with Bhattacharyya's view, Karel R. vanKooij, former Professor of South Asian art history at Leiden University, goes further and associates the iconography of Chhinnamasta with the Tantric goddesses Varahi and Chamunda.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: David Kinsley, an expert on Hindu goddesses and former Professor of Religion at McMaster University, agrees with the Buddhist origin theory, but sees other influences, too. Ancient Hindu goddesses, who are depicted nude and headless or faceless, may have also influenced the development of Chhinnamasta. These goddesses are mainly depicted headless to focus on the display of their sexual organs, thus signifying sexual vigour, but they do not explain the self-decapitation theme.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Other nude Hindu goddesses who might have inspired Chhinnamasta are the malevolent war goddess Kotavi and the South-Indian hunting goddess Korravai. Kotavi, sometimes described as a Matrika ("mother goddess"), is nude, dishevelled, wild, and awful in appearance. She is mentioned in the scriptures "Vishnu Purana" and "Bhagavata Purana", often as a foe of the god Vishnu. The ferocious, wild Korravai is the goddess of war and victory. Both goddesses are linked to battlefields; Chhinnamasta is not. Kinsley points out that while there are several bloodthirsty, nude, and wild goddesses and demonesses in Hindu mythology, Chhinnamasta is the only goddess who displays the shocking self-decapitation motif.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The beheading and rejoining motif also appears in the tale of the goddess Renuka; however the self-decapitation is missing in the legend. In the context of her legend, Renuka is given the epithet "Chhinnamasta" ("She whose head is severed"). The mahavidya Chhinnamasta is also associated with Renuka's son Parashurama, who decapitated his mother in the legend.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The name "Chhinnamasta" is also used as a generic name for goddess icons which do not have heads, such as those at Chinnamasta Bhagawati, Na-kati Bhavani shrine in Aurangabad district, Bihar and the goddess shrine in Uchchaith, Madhubani district, Bihar; these goddesses are not identified with the mahavidya Chhinnamasta.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The theme of self-decapitation and the severed head is recurring in Indian mythology. Legends from the "Simhasana Dvatrimsika" and the "Kathasaritsagara" speak of how the hero offers blood from his throat as an offering to a goddess. Rajasthani folk tales and songs tell about of warrior-heroes ("jhumjharji" or "bhomiya") who cuts off his head before the war or is decapitated in action, but battles on – without his head – slaying foes until he avenges his beheading and dies. The decapitated body and head motif is not unique to Hinduism and Buddhism and appears across the world, including the Cephalophore saints of Christianity and in Celtic culture.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta is often named as the fifth or sixth Mahavidya (Mahavidyas are a group of ten fearsome goddesses from the Hindu esoteric tradition of Tantra), with hymns identifying her as a fierce aspect of Devi, the Hindu Mother goddess. Kinsley says that three Mahavidyas – Kali, Tara, and Chhinnamasta – are prominent among Mahavidya depictions and lists, but that Chhinnamasta barely has an independent existence outside the group. The "Guhyatiguhya-Tantra" (c. 9th century) equates the god Vishnu's ten avatars with the ten Mahavidyas; the man-lion avatar Narasimha is described to have arisen from Chhinnamasta. A similar list in "Mundamala Tantra" (pre-16th century) equates Chhinnamasta with the avatar Parashurama.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta appears in two distinct set of legends: the origin myths of Mahavidyas as a group and those explaining the genesis of Chhinnamasta as an individual goddess.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: A story from the "Shakta Maha-Bhagavata Purana" and the "Brihaddharma Purana" (13th century) narrates the creation of all Mahavidyas, including Chhinnamasta. The story is as follows: Sati, the daughter of Daksha, is the first wife of the god Shiva. When she and Shiva are not invited to the fire sacrifice organized by her father, she is insulted and insists on attending, despite Shiva's protests. After futile attempts to convince Shiva to grant his consent for her to attend, the enraged Sati assumes a fierce form, transforming into the Mahavidyas, who surround Shiva from the ten cardinal directions. As per the "Shakta Maha-bhagavata Purana", Chhinnamasta stands to the right of Shiva, interpreted as the east or the west; the "Brihaddharma Purana" describes her as appearing to the rear of Shiva in the west.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: In similar legends, the Mahavidyas arise from the wrath of other goddesses, specifically, Parvati (the second wife of Shiva and the reincarnation of Sati) and Kali (the principal Mahavidya). In one legend, Shiva and Parvati are living in the house of Parvati's father. Shiva wants to leave, but Parvati creates the ten fierce Mahavidyas who appear from ten directions and prevent him from leaving. In another legend, Shiva is living with Kali, identified as Shiva's consort in this context, but becomes tired of her and wants to leave. Kali creates the Mahavidyas who also obstruct his path from ten directions. Kali enlightens him and he ceases trying to leave.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The "Devi Bhagavata Purana" also mentions the Mahavidyas as war-companions and forms of the goddess Shakambhari. An oral tradition similarly replaces Shakambhari with the goddess Durga.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The "Pranatoshini Tantra" (18th century) narrates two tales of Chhinnamasta's birth. One legend, attributed to the "Narada-pancharatra", tells how once, while bathing in Mandakini river, Parvati becomes sexually aroused, and turns black. At the same time, her two female attendants Dakini and Varnini (also called Jaya and Vijaya) become extremely hungry and beg for food. Though Parvati initially promises to give them food once they return home, the merciful goddess beheads herself with her nails and gives her blood to satisfy their hunger. Later, they return home after Parvati rejoins her head.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The other version, from the "Pranatoshini Tantra" and attributed to "Svatantra Tantra", is narrated by Shiva. He recounts that his consort Chandika (identified with Parvati) was engrossed in coitus with him in reverse posture, but became enraged at his seminal emission. Her attendants Dakini and Varnini rose from her body. The rest of the tale is similar to the earlier version, although the river is called Pushpabhadra, the day of Chhinnamasta's birth is called "Viraratri", and upon seeing the pale Parvati, Shiva becomes infuriated and assumes the form of Krodha Bhairava. This version is retold in the "Shaktisamgama Tantra" (c. 16th century), in which Chhinnamasta forms a triad with Kali and Tara.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: An oral legend tells how the goddess Prachanda Chandika appeared to aid the gods in the god-demon war, when the gods prayed to the Great Goddess Mahashakti. After slaying all demons, the enraged goddess cut off her own head and drank her own blood. The name Prachanda Chandika also appears as a synonym of Chhinnamasta in her hundred-name hymn in the "Shakta Pramoda" (19th century). Another oral legend relates her to the Samudra manthan (Churning of the Ocean) episode, where the gods and demons churned the milk ocean to acquire the "amrita" (the elixir of immortality). Chhinnamasta drank the demons' share of the elixir and then beheaded herself to prevent them from acquiring it.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The central themes of the mythology of Chhinnamasta are her self-sacrifice – with a maternal aspect (in the "Pranatoshini" "Tantra" versions) or for the welfare of the world (in the Samudra manthan oral version described above) – her sexual dominance (second "Pranatoshini" "Tantra" version), and her self-destructive fury (in the first oral legend).


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The iconography of Chhinnamasta is described in the "Trishakti Tantra" (pre-16th century), the "Tantrasara" ("Prachandachandika" section), the "Shakta Pramoda" ("Chinnamastatantra" section), and the "Mantra-mahodadhih" (1589CE).


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta is described as being as red as the hibiscus flower or as bright as a million suns. She is usually depicted as red or orange in complexion and sometimes as black. She is depicted mostly nude; however, she is so posed that her genitals are generally hidden or a multi-hooded cobra or jewellery around the waist covers them. She is depicted as being young and slim. She is described as a sixteen-year-old girl with full breasts, adorned with lotuses or having a single blue lotus near her heart. Sometimes, she is partially or fully clothed.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The goddess carries her own severed head – sometimes on a platter or in a skull-bowl – in her left hand. Though no legend mentions a specific weapon for the beheading, she holds a scimitar, a knife or a scissor-like object in her right hand. Though generally depicted with two arms, manifestations of the goddess with four arms also exist. While her own severed head and the sword appear in two of her hands, the implements in the remaining arms vary: a scissor-like object, a skull-bowl collecting the dripping blood from her head or blood stream from her neck, or a severed head, sometimes identified as that of the god Brahma.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta may have a lolling tongue. Her hair is loose and dishevelled and sometimes decorated with flowers. Alternately, in some images, her hair is tied. Additionally, she is described as having a third eye on her forehead and a jewel on her forehead, which is tied to a snake or a crown on the severed head. The crescent moon may also adorn her head. Chhinnamasta is depicted wearing a serpent as the sacred thread and a "mundamala" (garland of skulls or severed heads and bones), along with other various gold or pearl ornaments around her neck. Bangles and waist-belt ornaments may be also depicted. She may also wear a snake around her neck and serpentine earrings. Three streams of blood spring from her neck, one entering her own mouth, while the others are drunk by her female yogini companions, who flank her.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Both of the attendants – Dakini to her left and Varnini to her right – are depicted nude, with matted or dishevelled hair, three-eyed, full-breasted, wearing the serpentine sacred thread and the "mundamala", and carrying the skull-bowl in the left hand and the knife in the right. Sometimes, the attendants also hold severed heads (not their own). While Dakini is fair, Varnini is red-complexioned. In other depictions, both are depicted blue-grey. Sometimes, her attendants are depicted as skeletons and drinking the dripping blood from Chhinnamasta's severed head, rather than her neck. The attendants are absent in some depictions.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: With her right leg held straight and her left leg bent a little (the "pratyalidha" stance), Chhinnamasta stands in a fighting posture on the love-deity couple of Kamadeva (Kama) – a symbol of sexual love/lust – and his wife Rati, who are engaged in copulation with the latter usually on the top ("viparita-rati" sex position). Kamadeva is generally blue-complexioned, while Rati is white. Below the couple is a lotus with an inverted triangle, and in the background is a cremation ground. The "Chhinnamasta Tantra" describes the goddess sitting on the couple, rather than standing on them. Sometimes, Kamadeva-Rati is replaced by the divine couple of Krishna and Radha. The lotus beneath the couple is sometimes replaced by a cremation pyre. The coupling couple is sometimes omitted entirely. Sometimes Shiva – the goddess's consort – is depicted lying beneath Chhinnamasta, who is seated squatting on him and copulating with him. Dogs or jackals drinking the blood sometimes appear in the scene. Sometimes Chhinnamasta is depicted standing on a lotus, a grass patch, or the ground.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Another form of the goddess in the "Tantrasara" describes her seated in her own navel, formless and invisible. This form is said to be realised only via a trance. Another aniconic representation of the goddess is her yantra (a mystical geometrical diagram used in Tantric rituals), which figures the inverted triangle and lotus found in her iconography.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The scholar van Kooij notes that the iconography of Chhinnamasta has the elements of heroism ("vira rasa") and terror ("bhayanaka rasa") as well as eroticism ("sringara rasa") in terms of the copulating couple, with the main motifs being the offering of her own severed head, the spilling and drinking of blood, and the trampling of the couple.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta's popular iconography is similar to the yellow-coloured severed-headed Buddhist Chinnamunda, except for the copulating couple – which is exclusive to the former's iconography – and Chhinnamasta's red skin tone.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta is a goddess of contradictions: she "is both the food and the eater of food, thereby symbolizing the whole world by this act of being devoured and the devourer. The dichotomy of receiver and giver or object and subject collapses into one." Most of her epithets listed in her "nama-stotra" (name-hymn, which enlists the names of a deity) convey marvel and fury; few names are erotic or peaceful, which are contrary to Chhinnamasta's fierce nature and appearance. Her "sahasranama" (thousand name-hymn) echoes paradoxes; she is Prachanda Chandika ("the powerfully fierce one") as well as Sarvananda-pradayini ("the prime giver of all ananda or bliss"). Her names convey the idea that though she is fierce at first appearance, she can be gentle upon worship.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: While other fierce Hindu goddesses like Kali depict severing the heads of demons and are associated with ritual self-decapitation, Chhinnamasta's motif reverses the ritual head-offering, offering her own head to the devotees (attendants) in order to feed them. Thus, she symbolises the aspect of Devi as a giver, like Annapurna, the goddess of food, and Shakambhari, the goddess of vegetables, or a maternal aspect. The element of self-sacrifice is the symbol of "divine reciprocation" by the deity to her devotees. As a self-sacrificing mother, she symbolises the ideal Indian woman; however, her sexuality and power are at odds with the archetype. She subdues and takes the life-force of the copulating divine couple, signifying the aspect of the life-taker, like Kali.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta's serpentine ornaments indicate asceticism while her youthful nude ornamented body has erotic overtones. Like all Hindu goddesses, she is decked in gold finery, symbol of wealth and fertility.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The scholars Pratapaditya Pal, an expert on South Asian art and H. Bhattacharya, author of "Hinduder Debdebi" on the subject of Hindu deities, equate Chhinnamasta with the concepts of sacrifice and the renewal of creation. Chhinnamasta sacrifices herself, and her blood – drunk by her attendants – nourishes the universe. One invocation to her calls her the sacrifice, the sacrificer, and the recipient of the sacrifice, with the severed head treated as an offering. This paradox signifies the entire sacrificial process, and thus the cycle of creation, dissolution, and re-creation.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta is "a figure of radical transformation, a great yogini". She conveys the universal message that all life is sustained by other forms of life, and destruction and sacrifice are necessary for the continuity of creation. The goddess symbolises "pralaya" (cosmic dissolution), where she swallows all creation and makes way for new creation, thus conveying the idea of transformation. The Supreme Goddess is said to assume the form of Chhinnamasta for destruction of the universe. Chhinnamasta is considered a fearsome aspect of the Divine Mother. She is said to represent Transformation and complements Kali, who stands for Time. Her hundred-name hymn and thousand-name hymn describe her fierce nature and wrath. The names describe her as served by ghosts and as gulping blood. She is pleased by human blood, human flesh, and meat, and worshipped by body hair, flesh, and fierce mantras.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The seer Ganapati Muni associated the Mahavidyas with "prakasha" ("Light") and "nada" ("Sound") in stages of creation. Chhinnamasta is the violent interaction between the Light and the Sound enabling Creation. Chhinnamasta severing her own head is interpreted symbolic of the disconnecting of the Source and the manifest Creation, similar to cutting the umbilical cord between the mother and the new-born. Further, Chhinnamasta is associated with thunder and lightning, interacting light and sound forces. Her epithet, Vajra Vairochani ("radiant like the vajra"), is linked to the "vajra" (thunderbolt) and its divine master - Indra, the king of heaven and the god of rain, thunder and lightning.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The head offering and subsequent restoration of the head signify immortality. The dichotomy of temporality and immortality is alluded to by the blood stream drunk by Chhinnamasta's head – interpreted as "amrita" and the serpent, which sheds its skin without dying. The skull and severed head garlands signify her victory over Time and fear of Death. Chhinnamasta's black complexion denotes destruction; her depiction as red or orange denotes life. By drinking the blood, she appears as the Saviour, who drinks the negativity of the world and transforms it to benevolent energies; in this interpretation, the blood is seen in negative light rather than "amrita".


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta signifies that life, death, and sex are interdependent. Her image conveys the eternal truth that "life feeds on death, is nourished by death, necessitates death, and that the ultimate destiny of sex is to perpetuate more life, which in turn will decay and die in order to feed more life". While the lotus and the lovemaking couple symbolise life and the urge to create life, giving a life-force to the beheaded goddess, the blood flowing from the goddess conveys death and loss of the life-force, which flows into the mouths of her devotee yoginis, nourishing them.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The head is celebrated as a mark of identity as well as source of the seed. Thus, the self-decapitation represents removal of "maya" (illusion or delusion), physical attachment, false notions, ignorance, and egoism. The scimitar also signifies severance of these obstacles to "moksha" (emancipation), "jnana" (wisdom), and self-realization. The goddess also denotes discriminating perception. Chhinnamasta allows the devotee to gain a consciousness that transcends the bonds of physical attachment, the body, and the mind by her self-sacrifice. One interpretation suggests that her three eyes represent the sun, the moon, and fire while another links the third eye to transcendental knowledge. Unlike other Hindu deities who are depicted facing the devotee, Chhinnamasta generally looks at herself, prompting the devotee to look within themself.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The Chhinnamasta icon is also understood as a representation of the awakening of the kundalini – spiritual energy. The copulating couple represent the awakening in the Muladhara chakra, which corresponds to the last bone in the spinal column. The kundalini flows through the central passage in the body – the Sushumna nadi and hits the topmost chakra, the Sahasrara at the top of head – with such force that it blows her head off. The blood spilling from the throat represents the upward-flowing kundalini, breaking all knots ("granthis") – those things which make a person sad, ignorant and weak – of the chakras. The severed head is "transcendent consciousness". The three blood streams represent the flow of nectar when the kundalini unites with Shiva, who resides in the Sahasrara. The serpent in her iconography is also a symbol of the kundalini.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Another interpretation associates Daknini, Varnini, and Chhinnamasta with the three main nadis – Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna, respectively – flowing free. The goddess is generally said to be visualised in one's navel, the location of the Manipura chakra where the three nadis unite, and symbolises consciousness as well as the duality of creation and dissolution. Another tradition associates her with the Ajna chakra, the location of the "third eye" of wisdom between the eyebrows, the other meeting point of the three nadis.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The ability to remain alive despite the beheading is associated with supernatural powers and the awakening of the kundalini. The Earl of Ronaldshay (1925) compared Chhinnnamasta to India, beheaded by the British, "but nevertheless preserving her vitality unimpaired by drinking her own blood".


title: Chhinnamasta

text: There are two contrasting interpretations of Chhinnamasta with regard to sexual desire. The image of Chhinnamasta standing on a copulating couple of Kamadeva (literally, "sexual desire") and Rati ("sexual intercourse") is interpreted by some scholars as a symbol of a person's "control" over sexual desire, while others interpret the goddess as being the "embodiment" of sexual energy.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Her names, such as "Yogini" and "Madanatura" ("one who has control of Kama"), convey her yogic control over sexual energy. Her triumphant stance trampling the love-deity couple denotes victory over desire and "samsara" (the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth). Her subjugation of the amorous couple suggests that her worship will grant control over sexual urge and other impulses of the "indriya"s ("senses"), whose governing god Indra - she is associated with.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Images in which Chhinnamasta is depicted sitting on Kamadeva-Rati in a non-suppressive fashion suggest that the couple is giving sexual energy to the goddess. Images where Shiva is depicted in coitus with Chhinnamasta are associated with this interpretation. Chhinnamasta's names like "Kameshwari" ("goddess of desire") and "Ratiragavivriddhini" ("one who is engrossed in the realm of Rati – [copulation or sexual desire]") and the appearance of "klim" – the common seed syllable of Kamadeva and Krishna – in her mantra support this interpretation. Her lolling tongue also denotes sexual hunger.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The inverted triangle, found in Chhinnamasta's iconography as well as in her yantra, signifies the "yoni" (womb) and the feminine. The goddess is often prescribed to be visualised in the centre of the inverted triangle in the navel. It also signifies the three "guna"s (qualities) and three "shakti"s (powers) –"iccha" ("will-power"), "kriya" ("action"), and "jnana" ("wisdom"). The goddess is called "Yoni-mudra" or "Yoni-gamya", accessible through the yoni.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta's nudity and headlessness symbolise her integrity and "heedlessness". Her names like "Ranjaitri" ("victorious in war") celebrate her as the slayer of various demons and her prowess in battle. Her nakedness and free-flowing hair denote rejection of societal stereotypes and her rebellious freedom, as well as her sensual aspect.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The triad of the goddess and the two yoginis is also philosophically cognate to the triad of patterns, "which creative energy is felt to adopt". Besides the nadis, Chhinnamasta, Varnini and Dakini also represent the "guna" trinity: "sattva" (purity), "rajas" (energy), and "tamas" (ignorance). While discussing Mahavidya as a group, Chhinnamasta is associated with "rajas" (in the "Kamadhenu Tantra" and the "Maha-nirvana Tantra") or "sattva" (based on her lighter complexion).


title: Chhinnamasta

text: While the goddess is a mature sixteen-year-old who has conquered her ego and awakened her kundalini, the attendants are described as spiritually immature twelve-year-olds who are sustained on the goddess's blood and have not become liberated from the delusion of duality. In portrayals where the goddess's hair is tied like a matron and her attendants have free-flowing hair like young girls, the goddess is treated as a motherly figure of regal authority and power; the tied hair and headlessness represent contrasting ideas of controlled and uncontrolled nature, respectively.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta's association with the navel and her red complexion can be connected to the fire element and the sun, while the lotus in her iconography signifies purity.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta's individual cult is not widespread, but she is well known and important among "Tantrika"s (a type of Tantric practitioner) and is worshipped and depicted as part of the Mahavidya group in goddess temples. Temples and public worship of Chhinnamasta are rare, and her private worship by lay worshippers is probably uncommon.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Within the esoteric Tantric tradition, Chhinnamasta is a significant deity. She enjoys "active worship" in eastern India and Nepal; her temples are found in Nepal as well as in the Indian states of Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand and the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. Benard remarks that she could not visit any Chhinnamasta temples in Bengal, however was "assured" that Chhinnamasta is a popular goddess in Bengal.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The goddess is venerated in the ("family of Kali") sect of Shaktism, the Goddess-centric sect of Hinduism. Her individual worship is mainly restricted to heroic "Tantrika"s, and those who worship her say only yogis and world renouncers have the ability to meditate on her, using her icon. The lack of worship of Chhinnamasta by lay worshippers is attributed by Kinsley to her ferocious nature and her reputation for being dangerous to approach and worship.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Tantric practitioners worship Chhinnamasta for acquiring siddhis or supernatural powers. Chhinnamasta's mantra (a sacred chant that is repeated by a devotee) "Srim hrim klim aim Vajravairocaniye hum hum phat svaha" is to be invoked to attract and subjugate women. Her mantra associates her with syllables denoting beauty, light, fire, spiritual self-realization, and destruction of delusion. The "Shakta Pramoda" and the "Rudrayamala" recommend the use of her mantra to obtain wealth and auspiciousness.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Another goal of Chhinnamasta's worship is to cast spells and cause harm to someone. She is prescribed to be worshipped for subjugation or enchantment of men and women ("vasikarana"), annihilation of foes ("uchchatana"), someone's death ("marana") and causing hatred or hostilities between friends ("vidveshana").


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Acarya Ananda Jha, the author of the "Chinnamasta Tattva", prescribes her worship by soldiers as she embodies self-control of lust, heroic self-sacrifice for the benefit of others, and fearlessness in the face of death. In a collective prayer to the Mahavidyas in the "Shakta Maha-bhagavata Purana", the devotee prays to emulate Chhinnamasta in her generosity to others. Other goals common to worship of all Mahavidyas are: poetic speech, well-being, control of one's foes, removal of obstacles, ability to sway kings, ability to attract others, conquest over other kings, and, finally, moksha (salvation).


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The Tantric texts "Tantrasara", "Shakta Pramoda" and "Mantra-mahodadhih" give details about the worship of Chhinnamasta and other Mahavidyas, including her yantra, mantra and her "dhyanas ("meditative or iconographic forms). The "Sri Chhinnamasta Nityarcana" by Shri Swamiji (1979) details the rituals for the daily worship of Chhinnamasta.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: In her puja, Chhinnamasta's image or her yantra is worshipped, along with her attendants. The heterodox offerings of "Panchamakara" – wine, meat, fish, parched grain, and coitus – along with mainstream offerings such as flowers, light, incense, etc., are prescribed for her worship. A fire sacrifice and repetition of her "stotra" (hymn of praise) or her "nama-stotra" (name-hymn) are also prescribed in her worship. The "Shakta Pramoda" has her "sahasranama" (thousand name-hymn) as well as a compilation of her 108 names in a hymn.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Tantric texts tell the worshipper to imagine a red sun orb – signifying a yoni triangle – in his own navel. The popular form of Chhinnamasta is imagined to reside in the orb. The "Tantrasara" cautions a householder-man to invoke the goddess only in "abstract terms". It further advises that, if woman invokes Chhinnamasta by her mantra, the woman will become a dakini and lose her husband and son, thereby becoming a perfect yogini. The "Shaktisamgama Tantra" prescribes her worship only by the left-handed path (Vamamarga). The "Mantra-mahodadhih" declares that such worship involves having sexual intercourse with a woman who is not one's wife. The "Shakta Pramoda" tells the same, adding fire sacrifices, wine, and meat offerings at night. The best time to propitiate her is said to be the fourth quarter of the evening, that is, midnight.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Some hymns narrate that Chhinnamasta likes blood and thus is offered blood sacrifices at some shrines. The "Shaktisamgama Tantra" says that only brave souls ("viras") should follow Vamamarga worship to the goddess. The "Shakta Pramoda" warns that improper worship brings severe consequences, with Chhinnamasta beheading the person and drinking his blood. Further, it explains the worship rituals to be followed by householders and those to be followed by renouncers. The "Todala Tantra" mentions that, as part of Chhinnamasta's worship, Shiva or his fierce form, Bhairava, be worshipped as Kabandha ("headless trunk") as the goddess's consort. The worship of Kabandha, to the right of Chhinnamasta, is said to grant siddhis.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta is typically worshipped at midnight along with the other Mahavidyas at Kali Puja, the festival of Kali. However, householders are cautioned not to worship her. The Bakhrabad area of Cuttack district and the 86 Palli pandal of Kolkata have unique traditions of worshipping Chhinnamasta, instead of Kali, on Kali Puja.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: The Chintpurni ("She who fulfills one's wishes"), Himachal Pradesh temple of Chhinnamastika, is one of the Shakti Peethas (considered the holiest goddess temples) and is where the goddess Sati's forehead ("mastaka") fell. Here, Chhinnamasta is interpreted as the severed-headed one as well as the foreheaded-one. The central icon is a "pindi", an abstract form of Devi. While householders worship the goddess as a form of the goddess Durga, ascetic sadhus view her as the Tantric severed-headed goddess.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Another important shrine is the Chhinnamasta Temple near Rajrappa in Jharkhand, where a natural rock covered with an "ashtadhatu" (eight-metal alloy) "kavacha" (cover) is worshipped as the goddess. Though well-established as a centre of Chhinnamasta by the 18th century, the site is a popular place of worship among tribals since ancient times. Kheer and animal sacrifice are offered to the goddess.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: A shrine dedicated to Chhinnamasta was built by a Tantric sadhu in the Durga Temple complex, Ramnagar, near Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, where tantrikas worship her using corpses. Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, has a shrine of the goddess that is open only three days a year, around Chaitra Navaratri. Her shrines are also situated in the Kamakhya Temple complex, Assam and Basukinath temple complex, Jharkhand along with other Mahavidyas. There is a Chhinnamasta temple at Bishnupur, West Bengal. The goddess Manikeswari, a popular goddess in Odisha, is often identified with Chhinnamasta.


title: Chhinnamasta

text: Chhinnamasta's shrines are also found in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley. A shrine in the Changu Narayan Temple holds a 13th-century icon of Chhinnamasta. A chariot festival in the Nepali month of Baishakh is held in honour of the goddess. In the fields near the temple sits a small shrine to Chhinnamasta. A temple of the goddess in Patan built in 1732 contains her images in different postures and enjoys active worship.


title: Animal rights

text: Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the same consideration as similar interests of human beings. Broadly speaking, and particularly in popular discourse, the term "animal rights" is often used synonymously with "animal protection" or "animal liberation". More narrowly, "animal rights" refers to the idea that many animals have fundamental rights to be treated with respect as individuals—rights to life, liberty, and freedom from torture that may not be overridden by considerations of aggregate welfare.


title: Animal rights

text: Many advocates for animal rights oppose the assignment of moral value and fundamental protections on the basis of species membership alone. This idea, known as speciesism, is considered by them to be a prejudice as irrational as any other. They maintain that animals should no longer be viewed as property or used as food, clothing, entertainment, or beasts of burden because their status as a different species from humans should not give them different rights from humans. Multiple cultural traditions around the world such as Jainism, Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism and Animism also espouse some forms of animal rights.


title: Animal rights

text: In parallel to the debate about moral rights, law schools in North America now often teach animal law, and several legal scholars, such as Steven M. Wise and Gary L. Francione, support the extension of basic legal rights and personhood to non-human animals. The animals most often considered in arguments for personhood are hominids. Some animal-rights academics support this because it would break through the species barrier, but others oppose it because it predicates moral value on mental complexity, rather than on sentience alone. , 29 countries had enacted bans on hominoid experimentation; Argentina has granted a captive orangutan basic human rights since 2014.


title: Animal rights

text: Outside the order of primates, animal-rights discussions most often address the status of mammals (compare charismatic megafauna). Other animals (considered less sentient) have gained less attention; insects relatively little


title: Animal rights

text: (outside Jainism), and animal-like bacteria (despite their overwhelming numbers) hardly any. The vast majority of animals have no legally recognised rights.


title: Animal rights

text: Critics of animal rights argue that nonhuman animals are unable to enter into a social contract, and thus cannot be possessors of rights, a view summed up by the philosopher Roger Scruton (1944–2020), who writes that only humans have duties, and therefore only humans have rights. Another argument, associated with the utilitarian tradition, maintains that animals may be used as resources so long as there is no unnecessary suffering; animals may have some moral standing, but they are inferior in status to human beings, and any interests they have may be overridden, though what counts as "necessary" suffering or a legitimate sacrifice of interests can vary considerably. Certain forms of animal-rights activism, such as the destruction of fur farms and of animal laboratories by the Animal Liberation Front, have attracted criticism, including from within the animal-rights movement itself, and have prompted reaction from the U.S. Congress with the enactment of laws, including the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, allowing the prosecution of this sort of activity as terrorism.


title: Animal rights

text: For some the basis of animal rights is in religion or animal worship (or in general nature worship), with some religions banning killing of any animal, and in other religions animals can be considered unclean.


title: Animal rights

text: Hindu and Buddhist societies abandoned animal sacrifice and embraced vegetarianism from the 3rd century BCE. One of the most important sanctions of the Jain, Hindu and Buddhist faiths is the concept of ahimsa, or refraining from the destruction of life. According to Buddhist belief, humans do not deserve preferential treatment over other living beings. The Dharmic interpretation of this doctrine prohibits the killing of any living being. Ancient Tamil works such as the Tolkāppiyam and Tirukkural contain passages that extend the idea of non-violence to all living beings.


title: Animal rights

text: In Islam, animal rights were recognized early by the Sharia. This recognition is based on both the Qur'an and the Hadith. In the Qur'an, there are many references to animals, detailing that they have souls, form communities, communicate with God and worship Him in their own way. Muhammad forbade his followers to harm any animal and asked them to respect the rights of animals.


title: Animal rights

text: According to Christianity, all animals, from the smallest to the largest, are cared for and loved. According to the Bible, "All these animals waited for the Lord, that the Lord might give them food at the hour. The Lord gives them, they receive; The Lord opens his hand, and they are filled with good things". It further says God "gave food to the animals, and made the crows cry."


title: Animal rights

text: The two main philosophical approaches to animal ethics are utilitarian and rights-based. The former is exemplified by Peter Singer, and the latter by Tom Regan and Gary Francione. Their differences reflect a distinction philosophers draw between ethical theories that judge the rightness of an act by its consequences (consequentialism/teleological ethics, or utilitarianism), and those that focus on the principle behind the act, almost regardless of consequences (deontological ethics). Deontologists argue that there are acts we should never perform, even if failing to do so entails a worse outcome.


title: Animal rights

text: There are a number of positions that can be defended from a consequentalist or deontologist perspective, including the capabilities approach, represented by Martha Nussbaum, and the egalitarian approach, which has been examined by Ingmar Persson and Peter Vallentyne. The capabilities approach focuses on what individuals require to fulfill their capabilities: Nussbaum (2006) argues that animals need a right to life, some control over their environment, company, play, and physical health.


title: Animal rights

text: Stephen R. L. Clark, Mary Midgley, and Bernard Rollin also discuss animal rights in terms of animals being permitted to lead a life appropriate for their kind. Egalitarianism favors an equal distribution of happiness among all individuals, which makes the interests of the worse off more important than those of the better off. Another approach, virtue ethics, holds that in considering how to act we should consider the character of the actor, and what kind of moral agents we should be. Rosalind Hursthouse has suggested an approach to animal rights based on virtue ethics. Mark Rowlands has proposed a contractarian approach.


title: Animal rights

text: Nussbaum (2004) writes that utilitarianism, starting with Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, has contributed more to the recognition of the moral status of animals than any other ethical theory. The utilitarian philosopher most associated with animal rights is Peter Singer, professor of bioethics at Princeton University. Singer is not a rights theorist, but uses the language of rights to discuss how we ought to treat individuals. He is a preference utilitarian, meaning that he judges the rightness of an act by the extent to which it satisfies the preferences (interests) of those affected.


title: Animal rights

text: His position is that there is no reason not to give equal consideration to the interests of human and nonhumans, though his principle of equality does not require identical treatment. A mouse and a man both have an interest in not being kicked, and there are no moral or logical grounds for failing to accord those interests equal weight. Interests are predicated on the ability to suffer, nothing more, and once it is established that a being has interests, those interests must be given equal consideration. Singer quotes the English philosopher Henry Sidgwick (1838–1900): "The good of any one individual is of no more importance, from the point of view ... of the Universe, than the good of any other."


title: Animal rights

text: Singer argues that equality of consideration is a prescription, not an assertion of fact: if the equality of the sexes were based only on the idea that men and women were equally intelligent, we would have to abandon the practice of equal consideration if this were later found to be false. But the moral idea of equality does not depend on matters of fact such as intelligence, physical strength, or moral capacity. Equality therefore cannot be grounded on the outcome of scientific investigations into the intelligence of nonhumans. All that matters is whether they can suffer.


title: Animal rights

text: Commentators on all sides of the debate now accept that animals suffer and feel pain, although it was not always so. Bernard Rollin, professor of philosophy, animal sciences, and biomedical sciences at Colorado State University, writes that Descartes's influence continued to be felt until the 1980s. Veterinarians trained in the US before 1989 were taught to ignore pain, he writes, and at least one major veterinary hospital in the 1960s did not stock narcotic analgesics for animal pain control. In his interactions with scientists, he was often asked to "prove" that animals are conscious, and to provide "scientifically acceptable" evidence that they could feel pain.


title: Animal rights

text: Scientific publications have made it clear since the 1980s that the majority of researchers do believe animals suffer and feel pain, though it continues to be argued that their suffering may be reduced by an inability to experience the same dread of anticipation as humans or to remember the suffering as vividly. The ability of animals to suffer, even it may vary in severity, is the basis for Singer's application of equal consideration. The problem of animal suffering, and animal consciousness in general, arose primarily because it was argued that animals have no language. Singer writes that, if language were needed to communicate pain, it would often be impossible to know when humans are in pain, though we can observe pain behavior and make a calculated guess based on it. He argues that there is no reason to suppose that the pain behavior of nonhumans would have a different meaning from the pain behavior of humans.


title: Animal rights

text: Tom Regan, professor emeritus of philosophy at North Carolina State University, argues in "The Case for Animal Rights" (1983) that nonhuman animals are what he calls "subjects-of-a-life", and as such are bearers of rights. He writes that, because the moral rights of humans are based on their possession of certain cognitive abilities, and because these abilities are also possessed by at least some nonhuman animals, such animals must have the same moral rights as humans. Although only humans act as moral agents, both marginal-case humans, such as infants, and at least some nonhumans must have the status of "moral patients".


title: Animal rights

text: Moral patients are unable to formulate moral principles, and as such are unable to do right or wrong, even though what they do may be beneficial or harmful. Only moral agents are able to engage in moral action. Animals for Regan have "intrinsic value" as subjects-of-a-life, and cannot be regarded as a means to an end, a view that places him firmly in the abolitionist camp. His theory does not extend to all animals, but only to those that can be regarded as subjects-of-a-life. He argues that all normal mammals of at least one year of age would qualify:


title: Animal rights

text: Whereas Singer is primarily concerned with improving the treatment of animals and accepts that, in some hypothetical scenarios, individual animals might be used legitimately to further human or nonhuman ends, Regan believes we ought to treat nonhuman animals as we would humans. He applies the strict Kantian ideal (which Kant himself applied only to humans) that they ought never to be sacrificed as a means to an end, and must be treated as ends in themselves.


title: Animal rights

text: Gary Francione, professor of law and philosophy at Rutgers Law School in Newark, is a leading abolitionist writer, arguing that animals need only one right, the right not to be owned. Everything else would follow from that paradigm shift. He writes that, although most people would condemn the mistreatment of animals, and in many countries there are laws that seem to reflect those concerns, "in practice the legal system allows any use of animals, however abhorrent." The law only requires that any suffering not be "unnecessary". In deciding what counts as "unnecessary", an animal's interests are weighed against the interests of human beings, and the latter almost always prevail.


title: Animal rights

text: Francione's "Animals, Property, and the Law" (1995) was the first extensive jurisprudential treatment of animal rights. In it, Francione compares the situation of animals to the treatment of slaves in the United States, where legislation existed that appeared to protect them while the courts ignored that the institution of slavery itself rendered the protection unenforceable. He offers as an example the United States Animal Welfare Act, which he describes as an example of symbolic legislation, intended to assuage public concern about the treatment of animals, but difficult to implement.


title: Animal rights

text: He argues that a focus on animal welfare, rather than animal rights, may worsen the position of animals by making the public feel comfortable about using them and entrenching the view of them as property. He calls animal rights groups who pursue animal welfare issues, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the "new welfarists", arguing that they have more in common with 19th-century animal protectionists than with the animal rights movement; indeed, the terms "animal protection" and "protectionism" are increasingly favored. His position in 1996 was that there is no animal rights movement in the United States.


title: Animal rights

text: Mark Rowlands, professor of philosophy at the University of Florida, has proposed a contractarian approach, based on the original position and the veil of ignorance—a "state of nature" thought experiment that tests intuitions about justice and fairness—in John Rawls's "A Theory of Justice" (1971). In the original position, individuals choose principles of justice (what kind of society to form, and how primary social goods will be distributed), unaware of their individual characteristics—their race, sex, class, or intelligence, whether they are able-bodied or disabled, rich or poor—and therefore unaware of which role they will assume in the society they are about to form.


title: Animal rights

text: The idea is that, operating behind the veil of ignorance, they will choose a social contract in which there is basic fairness and justice for them no matter the position they occupy. Rawls did not include species membership as one of the attributes hidden from the decision-makers in the original position. Rowlands proposes extending the veil of ignorance to include rationality, which he argues is an undeserved property similar to characteristics including race, sex and intelligence.


title: Animal rights

text: American philosopher Timothy Garry has proposed an approach that deems nonhuman animals worthy of "prima facie" rights. In a philosophical context, a "prima facie" (Latin for "on the face of it" or "at first glance") right is one that appears to be applicable at first glance, but upon closer examination may be outweighed by other considerations. In his book "", Lawrence Hinman characterizes such rights as "the right is real but leaves open the question of whether it is applicable and overriding in a particular situation". The idea that nonhuman animals are worthy of "prima facie" rights is to say that, in a sense, animals have rights that can be overridden by many other considerations, especially those conflicting a human's right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. Garry supports his view arguing:


title: Animal rights

text: In sum, Garry suggests that humans have obligations to nonhuman animals; animals do not, and ought not to, have uninfringible rights against humans.


title: Animal rights

text: Women have played a central role in animal advocacy since the 19th century. The anti-vivisection movement in the 19th and early 20th century in England and the United States was largely run by women, including Frances Power Cobbe, Anna Kingsford, Lizzy Lind af Hageby and Caroline Earle White (1833–1916). Garner writes that 70 per cent of the membership of the Victoria Street Society (one of the anti-vivisection groups founded by Cobbe) were women, as were 70 per cent of the membership of the British RSPCA in 1900.


title: Animal rights

text: The modern animal advocacy movement has a similar representation of women. They are not invariably in leadership positions: during the March for Animals in Washington, D.C., in 1990—the largest animal rights demonstration held until then in the United States—most of the participants were women, but most of the platform speakers were men. Nevertheless, several influential animal advocacy groups have been founded by women, including the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection by Cobbe in London in 1898; the Animal Welfare Board of India by Rukmini Devi Arundale in 1962; and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, co-founded by Ingrid Newkirk in 1980. In the Netherlands, Marianne Thieme and Esther Ouwehand were elected to parliament in 2006 representing the Parliamentary group for Animals.


title: Animal rights

text: The preponderance of women in the movement has led to a body of academic literature exploring feminism and animal rights, such as feminism and vegetarianism or veganism, the oppression of women and animals, and the male association of women and animals with nature and emotion, rather than reason—an association that several feminist writers have embraced. Lori Gruen writes that women and animals serve the same symbolic function in a patriarchal society: both are "the used"; the dominated, submissive "Other". When the British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) published "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" (1792), Thomas Taylor (1758–1835), a Cambridge philosopher, responded with an anonymous parody, "A Vindication of the Rights of Brutes" (1792), saying that Wollstonecraft's arguments for women's rights could be applied equally to animals, a position he intended as "reductio ad absurdum". In her works "The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory" (1990) and "The Pornography of Meat" (2004), Carol J. Adams focuses in particular on what she argues are the links between the oppression of women and that of non-human animals.


title: Animal rights

text: Some transhumanists argue for animal rights, liberation, and "uplift" of animal consciousness into machines. Transhumanism also understands animal rights on a gradation or spectrum with other types of sentient rights, including human rights and the rights of conscious artificial intelligences (posthuman rights).


title: Animal rights

text: According to sociologist David Nibert of Wittenberg University, the struggle for animal liberation must happen in tandem with a more generalized struggle against human oppression and exploitation under global capitalism. He says that under a more egalitarian democratic socialist system, one that would "allow a more just and peaceful order to emerge" and be "characterized by economic democracy and a democratically controlled state and mass media", there would be "much greater potential to inform the public about vital global issues—and the potential for "campaigns to improve the lives of other animals" to be "more abolitionist in nature." Philosopher Steven Best of the University of Texas at El Paso states that the animal liberation movement, as characterized by the Animal Liberation Front and its various offshoots, "is a significant threat to global capital."


title: Animal rights

text: R. G. Frey, professor of philosophy at Bowling Green State University, is a preference utilitarian, as is Singer. But, in his early work, "Interests and Rights" (1980), Frey disagreed with Singer—who in his "Animal Liberation" (1975) wrote that the interests of nonhuman animals must be included when judging the consequences of an act—on the grounds that animals have no interests. Frey argues that interests are dependent on desire, and that no desire can exist without a corresponding belief. Animals have no beliefs, because a belief state requires the ability to hold a second-order belief—a belief about the belief—which he argues requires language: "If someone were to say, e.g. 'The cat believes that the door is locked,' then that person is holding, as I see it, that the cat holds the declarative sentence 'The door is locked' to be true; and I can see no reason whatever for crediting the cat or any other creature which lacks language, including human infants, with entertaining declarative sentences."


title: Animal rights

text: Carl Cohen, professor of philosophy at the University of Michigan, argues that rights holders must be able to distinguish between their own interests and what is right. "The holders of rights must have the capacity to comprehend rules of duty governing all, including themselves. In applying such rules, [they] ... must recognize possible conflicts between what is in their own interest and what is just. Only in a community of beings capable of self-restricting moral judgments can the concept of a right be correctly invoked." Cohen rejects Singer's argument that, since a brain-damaged human could not make moral judgments, moral judgments cannot be used as the distinguishing characteristic for determining who is awarded rights. Cohen writes that the test for moral judgment "is not a test to be administered to humans one by one", but should be applied to the capacity of members of the species in general.


title: Animal rights

text: Judge Richard Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit debated the issue of animal rights in 2001 with Peter Singer. Posner posits that his moral intuition tells him "that human beings prefer their own. If a dog threatens a human infant, even if it requires causing more pain to the dog to stop it, than the dog would have caused to the infant, then we favour the child. It would be monstrous to spare the dog."


title: Animal rights

text: Singer challenges this by arguing that formerly unequal rights for gays, women, and certain races were justified using the same set of intuitions. Posner replies that equality in civil rights did not occur because of ethical arguments, but because facts mounted that there were no morally significant differences between humans based on race, sex, or sexual orientation that would support inequality. If and when similar facts emerge about humans and animals, the differences in rights will erode too. But facts will drive equality, not ethical arguments that run contrary to instinct, he argues. Posner calls his approach "soft utilitarianism", in contrast to Singer's "hard utilitarianism". He argues:


title: Animal rights

text: Roger Scruton, the British philosopher, argued that rights imply obligations. Every legal privilege, he wrote, imposes a burden on the one who does not possess that privilege: that is, "your right may be my duty." Scruton therefore regarded the emergence of the animal rights movement as "the strangest cultural shift within the liberal worldview", because the idea of rights and responsibilities is, he argued, distinctive to the human condition, and it makes no sense to spread them beyond our own species.


title: Animal rights

text: He accused animal rights advocates of "pre-scientific" anthropomorphism, attributing traits to animals that are, he says, Beatrix Potter-like, where "only man is vile." It is within this fiction that the appeal of animal rights lies, he argued. The world of animals is non-judgmental, filled with dogs who return our affection almost no matter what we do to them, and cats who pretend to be affectionate when, in fact, they care only about themselves. It is, he argued, a fantasy, a world of escape.


title: Animal rights

text: Scruton singled out Peter Singer, a prominent Australian philosopher and animal-rights activist, for criticism. He wrote that Singer's works, including "Animal Liberation", "contain little or no philosophical argument. They derive their radical moral conclusions from a vacuous utilitarianism that counts the pain and pleasure of all living things as equally significant and that ignores just about everything that has been said in our philosophical tradition about the real distinction between persons and animals."


title: Animal rights

text: According to a paper published in 2000 by Harold Herzog and Lorna Dorr, previous academic surveys of attitudes towards animal rights have tended to suffer from small sample sizes and non-representative groups. However, a number of factors appear to correlate with the attitude of individuals regarding the treatment of animals and animal rights. These include gender, age, occupation, religion, and level of education. There has also been evidence to suggest that prior experience with pets may be a factor in people's attitudes.


title: Animal rights

text: According to some studies, women are more likely to empathize with the cause of animal rights than men. A 1996 study suggested that factors that may partially explain this discrepancy include attitudes towards feminism and science, scientific literacy, and the presence of a greater emphasis on "nurturance or compassion" among women.


title: Animal rights

text: A common misconception on the concept of animal rights is that its proponents want to grant non-human animals the exact same legal rights as humans, such as the right to vote. This is not the case, as the concept is that animals should have rights with equal consideration to their interests (for example, cats do not have any interest in voting, so they should not have the right to vote). A 2016 study found that support for animal testing may not be based on cogent philosophical rationales, and more open debate is warranted.


title: Animal rights

text: A 2007 survey to examine whether or not people who believed in evolution were more likely to support animal rights than creationists and believers in intelligent design found that this was largely the case—according to the researchers, the respondents who were strong Christian fundamentalists and believers in creationism were less likely to advocate for animal rights than those who were less fundamentalist in their beliefs. The findings extended previous research, such as a 1992 study which found that 48% of animal rights activists were atheists or agnostic. A 2019 study in "The Washington Post" found that those who have positive attitudes toward animal rights also tend to have a positive view of universal healthcare, favor reducing discrimination against African Americans, the LGBT community and undocumented immigrants, and expanding welfare to aid the poor.


title: Animal rights

text: Two surveys found that attitudes towards animal rights tactics, such as direct action, are very diverse within the animal rights communities. Near half (50% and 39% in two surveys) of activists do not support direct action. One survey concluded "it would be a mistake to portray animal rights activists as homogeneous."


title: Animal rights

text: Books and papers are cited in short form in the footnotes, with full citations here. News and other sources are cited in full in the footnotes.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: Lèse-majesté () or lese-majesty () is an offence against the dignity of a ruling head of state (traditionally a monarch but now more often a president) or the state itself. The English name for this crime is a borrowing from the French, where it means "a crime against The Crown."


title: Lèse-majesté

text: This behaviour was first classified as a criminal offence against the dignity of the Roman Republic of ancient Rome. In the Dominate, or Late Empire period, the emperors eliminated the republican trappings of their predecessors and began to equate the state with themselves. Although legally the "princeps civitatis" (his official title, meaning, roughly, 'first citizen') could never become a sovereign because the republic was never officially abolished, emperors were deified as divus, first posthumously but by the Dominate period while reigning. Deified emperors enjoyed the same legal protection that was accorded to the divinities of the state cult; by the time it was replaced by Christianity, what was in all but name a monarchical tradition had already become well-established.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: Narrower conceptions of offences against Majesty as offences against the crown predominated in the European kingdoms that emerged in the early medieval period. In feudal Europe, some crimes were classified as lèse-majesté even if they were not intentionally directed against the crown. An example is counterfeiting, so classified because coins bore the monarch's effigy and/or coat of arms.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: With the disappearance of absolute monarchy in Europe, lèse-majesté came to be viewed as less of a crime. However, certain malicious acts that would have once been classified as the crime of lèse-majesté could still be prosecuted as treason. Future republics that emerged as great powers generally still classified as a crime any offence against the highest representatives of the state. These laws are still applied as well in monarchies outside of Europe, notably in modern Thailand and Cambodia.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: On 31 January 2022, a woman in Belarus was handed an 18-month prison sentence for "insulting" the country’s authoritarian ruler, Alexander Lukashenko and other authorities after pictures mocking the officials were found on her phone. There have been other similar sentences particularly since Lukashenko claimed he won an election in August 2020 which independent observers reported that he lost.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: On 28 October 2021, Belgium's Constitutional Court ruled that a law dating from 1847 which penalised insulting the monarch with a fine or imprisonment violates the right to freedom of expression as guaranteed under the Belgian Constitution as well as the European Convention on Human Rights. A proposal to repeal the 1847 law will be made in Parliament.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: In Denmark, the monarch is protected by the usual libel paragraph (§ 267 of the Danish Penal Code which allows for up to four months of imprisonment), but §115 allows for doubling of the usual punishment when the reigning monarch is target of the libel. When a queen consort, queen dowager or the crown prince is the target, the punishment may be increased by 50%. There are no historical records of §115 having ever been used, but in March 2011, Greenpeace activists who unfurled a banner at a dinner at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference were charged under this section. They received minor sentences for other crimes, but were acquitted of the charge relating to the monarch.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: Insulting a foreign dignitary, its representatives or family members, desecrating flag or anthem can be punished by up to two years of imprisonment according to the Penal Code § 247 and § 249


title: Lèse-majesté

text: Until 2017, it was illegal to publicly insult foreign heads of state. On 25 January 2017, the German justice minister Heiko Maas announced a decision by the cabinet to remove this law from the German criminal code, effective 1 January 2018. The decision came several months after Chancellor Angela Merkel announced in April 2016 a controversial decision to honour the Turkish government's request to prosecute a German comedian for reading an obscene poem about Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on late-night television. In that announcement, Merkel also stated the intention to consider repeal of the little-known law. The prosecution was dropped in November 2016.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: Insulting the federal president is still illegal, but prosecution requires the authorisation of the president.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: Insulting a country, foreign head of state, its representatives or flag can be punished by up to two years of imprisonment according to the 95th article of the penal code. For a very serious breach the term can be extended to six years.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: Impugning the honour or prestige of the president of Italy is punishable with one to five years in jail. This includes personal offences made regarding their exercise of powers or otherwise, with no distinction between past or current events or between the public and private spheres.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: Former leader of the Northern League Umberto Bossi was sentenced to a year and 15 days in jail after using the racial slur "terrone" in reference to the at the time president Giorgio Napolitano's southern origins, but was later pardoned by the then president Sergio Mattarella.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: Similarly, it is also illegal to violate the prestige of foreign flags and emblems; a similar law concerning foreign heads of state was repealed in 1999.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: In 1966, Dutch cartoonist Willem depicted queen Juliana of the Netherlands as a prostitute in a cartoon published in "Provo" magazine, "God, Nederland en Oranje". He was sued for lèse-majesté, but the judge eventually acquitted him from the charge. Willem moved to France afterwards.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: Lèse-majesté of the King was punishable with up to five years in prison and/or a fine. The insulting of the Royal Consort, the heir apparent or their consort, or the Regent, was punishable by four years in prison and/or a fine. In the same vein, the insulting of an allied head of state, who is in the Netherlands in their official capacity, was punishable by up to two years and/or a fine.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: In total, 18 prosecutions were brought under the law between 2000 and 2012, half of which resulted in convictions. In October 2007, a 47-year-old man was sentenced to one week's imprisonment and fined €400 for, amongst other things, lèse-majesté in the Netherlands when he called Queen Beatrix a "whore" and told a police officer that he would have anal sex with her because "she would like it". In July 2016, a 44-year-old man was sentenced to 30 days in jail for 'intentionally insulting' King Willem-Alexander, accusing him of being a murderer, thief and rapist.


title: Lèse-majesté

text: These laws have been abolished as of January 1, 2020. Insulting the King, the Royal Consort, the heir apparent or their consort, or the Regent, is now punishable on the same level as public officials in their official capacity, which adds one third to the maximum severity of the punishment for regular criminalisation of insulting of three months in prison (maximum) and/or a fine. Prosecutions do still take place. On 23 January 2020, an individual was sentenced to 40 hours community service for insulting the Dutch Queen Máxima Zorreguieta, referring to her as the daughter of a murderer (she is the daughter of Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta, who served as a minister in the Argentine military regime of Jorge Rafael Videla).


title: Lèse-majesté

text: Article 135 of the Polish penal code states that anyone who publicly insults () the President of Poland is punishable by up to three years of imprisonment. Prior to March 2021, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal declared the law consistent with the Polish constitution and Polish international treaty obligations, arguing that the effective carrying out of the duties of the president requires having authority and being especially respected.