For centuries, the story goes, thousands of animals have been sacrificed in the town every five years to appease the goddess Gadhimai, who many believe has the power to grant wishes. Hindu pilgrims have long made it a point to come witness the slaughter. (Though killing cows, a sacred animal to Hindus, is prohibited in parts of India and Nepal, slaughtering water buffalo does not carry the same taboo.)

But this year’s festival has played out differently. Nepal’s central government refused to fund the event, citing a Supreme Court ban on supporting animal sacrifices. In recent days, activists and police officials have gathered along Nepal’s border with India, from where many of the animals are illegally smuggled, and tried to block trucks from passing through.

Their efforts have paid off. In 2009, during a particularly brutal festival, up to 500,000 animals were slaughtered. Five years later, the number was reduced to 30,000. And on Tuesday, this year’s heaviest day for sacrifices, about 3,500 buffalo were killed, activists said. Those numbers will increase when the rest of the sacrificed animals are counted, but are unlikely to reach 30,000.