According to the AP, the Deopokhari festival in Nepal is held to appease what locals believe is a demon that resides in a pond. Every year, cattle and other animals are sacrificed to the pond demon so that no human lives are lost to drowning in the pond, which locals say was a common occurrence before the festival began.

Niranjan Shrestha / AP

Children watch, from behind a fence, the Deopokhari festival in Khokana, Kathmandu, Nepal, on Aug. 15.

Niranjan Shrestha / AP

People compete to grab a goat which was earlier thrown into a pond as part of the Deopokhari festival in Khokana on Aug. 15.

Similarly to the story told in Monday's PhotoBlog post about Indonesians sacrificing chickens to the mountain gods, it appears that there were plenty of skeptics in attendance at the pond, ready and willing to find a more practical use for the sacrificial goat.