Devotees lined up outside a Hindu temple in southern Nepal at the start of a two-day religious celebration involving the sacrificial slaughter of hundreds of thousands of animals.

Protests have occurred in recent weeks in towns near the Gadhimai temple and in the capital Kathmandu by animals rights activists and other religious groups.

However, Hindu organisers said they would not halt the slaughter because it was a centuries-old tradition.

More than 200,000 buffaloes, goats, chickens and pigeons will be killed Tuesday and Wednesday at the temple in the jungles of Bara district, about 100 miles south of Kathmandu.

Chief government administrator in the area Taranath Gautam said tens of thousands of people began lining up in the early hours of Tuesday, and the animal sacrifice rituals had started.

The Gadhimai festival is celebrated every five years. Participants believe sacrificing the animals for the Hindu goddess Gadhimai will end evil and bring prosperity.

Many join the festival from the neighbouring Indian state of Bihar, where animal sacrifices have been banned in some areas.

Critics say the killings are barbaric and conducted in a cruel manner.