GUWAHATI: Indian priests sacrificed several animals for Nepal king Gyanendra at an ancient temple in Assam on Thursday, but the king was not present for the ceremony, temple officials said.

       The king's plan to sacrifice animals - for the well-being of the royal family in troubled Nepal - at the temple of the goddess of strength, Kamakhya, unleashed a storm of protest from animal rights activists.

           Temple authorities sacrificed a buffalo, a sheep, a goat and a duck offered by the king to the goddess just hours after he left the temple. Earlier, the king offered a basket of fruits draped in red fabric and marigold-and-jasmine garlands amid the chanting of hymns during an hour-long ceremony in the heavily guarded temple on a hill-top on the outskirts of Guwahati.

           "King Gyanendra folded his hands in prayer here. He performed 'puja' also at the Shiva temple here. He then went inside to see Goddess Kamakhya," said Himen Sharma, Secretary, Kamakhya Temple Management Trust. An official of the king's office accompanying him clarified that Gyanendra decided not to violate the law of the land, instead leave it to the temple authorities to decide whether to hold the animal sacrifice.

           The temple priest said the animals, which had been offered by the king's priests on Tuesday, were beheaded and their blood offered to the goddess one-and-a-half hours after the king left the stone temple. Temple rites dictate that animals offered to the goddess at the 1,000-year-old temple have to be sacrificed and cannot be let loose.

           Gyanendra took over the throne of the world's only Hindu kingdom a year ago after his brother, Birendra, and most of the royal family were gunned down by crown prince Dipendra in a drunken shooting spree in which he also killed himself. The impoverished Himalayan nation of 23 million, also battling a bloody communist rebellion that has killed thousands, is still struggling to recover from the tragedy.

           The king of Nepal is considered a reincarnation of Vishnu, the Hindu god of protection. Gyanendra's six-day visit to Nepal's big southern neighbour which began on Sunday is his first overseas trip since he ascended the throne.