After finishing the first pooja of the day inside the main temple building, more than 100 devotees moved their ceremonies outside to Shambo's cage. Shambo stood munching on bales of hay, oblivious to his impending fate and the furore surrounding his existence.
Supporters said yesterday that the timing of the operation to slaughter Shambo was particularly insensitive because it coincided with the temple's largest annual festival, a two-week devotion to the main presiding deity, Subramanium.
Also more commonly known as Lord Muragan and the Son of Shiva, Hindus believe he is the destroyer of negativity, a weapon against the forces of violence and destruction which the devotees have come to refer to as Defra .
Brother Francis, 38, who became a monk 15 years ago, said: "It's bad enough that they've come to take Shambo but to come during the middle of our most important festival is horrendously insensitive. Despite what the government says when it comes to Shambo there was simply no other way we could have acted. The sanctity of life is absolute."
Those who wanted to protect Shambo from the abattoir yesterday rejected any criticism that the temple authorities were unreasonable in dealing with DEFRA's concerns over public health.
Brother Michael said: "We tried to explore every avenue to resolve the government's concern and instead we came up against bureaucratic intransigence at its worst. The test they use to identify TB is not conclusive. It doesn't show whether Shambo has actually been infected, it just shows he's been exposed to the TB bacteria.
"We suggested further blood tests-we even offered to pay the £30 it costs-but they simply kept saying, 'It's not our policy.'"
Throughout its dispute with the temple, DEFRA had argued that Shambo could infect other animals if he continued to live. The temple, meanwhile, insisted that since the young bull was isolated and had only tested positive to exposure to TB bacteria he posed no risk.
Even though Skanda Vale finally lost its legal battle in court, the judge nonetheless ordered DEFRA to pay the temple's legal costs. The final bill-including the costs of killing Shambo-which ultimately will be footed by the taxpayer, looks set to run into the hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Sister Carol, one of five women to have taken the Franciscan vow of celibacy, poverty and obedience that makes a Skanda Vale devotee a monk or nun, was particularly critical of the money that she believed had been wasted by the government fighting over Shambo.
"They never wanted to negotiate from the beginning," she said. "But what exactly have they managed to achieve? Ultimately it's cost them almost a quarter of a million pounds to kill a bull."
The loss of Shambo is the second significant blow to the Skanda Vale community this year. Earlier this month, as the fight over Shambo first went to court, the temple's founder, a man known to his followers as Guru Sri Subramanium, died.
He had been ill for some time and had been staying in the hospice that the temple provides for both followers and locals.
Brother Francis said: "To lose our guru at such a key time was a big blow. But we still feel his presence."
Born in 1920 to a wealthy Sri Lankan family, Guru Subramanium moved to Europe shortly after the Second World War.
His followers say the young Sri Lankan was so horrified by the violence unleashed in the name of religion and ideology that he decided to create a temple somewhere in Europe that would unify the Western world's faiths with those further east.
Ten years of doing menial jobs in London including-according to his "official" biography-stints as a flower seller, nightclub singer and on the shop floor of Selfridges, Guru Subramanium had finally collected enough cash to found his first temple, which he did so in London. It was free to everyone and open to all faiths.
In 1973 his group bought a small, rundown farmhouse in Carmarthenshire with 115 acres and began building the Skanda Vale temple.
For more than 30 years, deep in the heart of Western Wales, a small but dedicated group of largely Western-born men and women have chosen to forego their societies' materialism in favour of a life of poverty, chastity and worship.
Despite Skanda Vale's isolated location-it lies four miles up a potholed track and mobile phone reception is non-existent-more than 60,000 pilgrims make their way to the temple each year.
Although the gods worshipped there and the form that worship takes is noticeably Hindu, like the first temple in London Skanda Vale is nondenominational.
It is one of the few places in the world where the priests administering pooja are predominantly white. Yesterday's crowd were a typically eclectic collection of believers. Swiss Hindu converts sat next to Asian Hindus from London, who sat singing next to local Christians.
Delyth Howells, who described herself as a Christian but one that had "learned more about Christ in Skanda Vale than from anything taught in church", said she had been visiting the temple for more than 20 years.
"The government have handled this with total disregard for the way things are done here," she said. "I know what's right and wrong and this is wrong. A life is a life."
Linda Salzmann, a Swiss national who arrived two days ago with her husband and five-year-old daughter Celina, was one of the few devotees yesterday to express any sympathy for the authorities.
"I can understand the government's position," she said. "They can't go back. But it must be a difficult decision for them."
Shortly before the police arrived, Brother Michael read out an email from a cow sanctuary in the Indian state of Maharashtra: "A number of cow sanctuaries in India have said they were willing to take Shambo and shipping had been arranged," he said. "But the Welsh Assembly refused the plan."
Although Skanda Vale has received some messages of support from the rural community-many of whom have watched their cattle be slaughtered because of TB -farmers unions have generally been critical of the way the temple refused to let Shambo be slaughtered. If the policy was that their cows were slaughtered because of TB, they argued, Shambo should be no different.
Last night the battle was lost. <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>But three other members of the temple's herd of cattle are showing signs of exposure to the TB bacteria. Whether DEFRA and the Welsh Assembly will have the stomach for another fight like yesterday's remains to be seen. </span>
http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2809195.ece
Supporters said yesterday that the timing of the operation to slaughter Shambo was particularly insensitive because it coincided with the temple's largest annual festival, a two-week devotion to the main presiding deity, Subramanium.
Also more commonly known as Lord Muragan and the Son of Shiva, Hindus believe he is the destroyer of negativity, a weapon against the forces of violence and destruction which the devotees have come to refer to as Defra .
Brother Francis, 38, who became a monk 15 years ago, said: "It's bad enough that they've come to take Shambo but to come during the middle of our most important festival is horrendously insensitive. Despite what the government says when it comes to Shambo there was simply no other way we could have acted. The sanctity of life is absolute."
Those who wanted to protect Shambo from the abattoir yesterday rejected any criticism that the temple authorities were unreasonable in dealing with DEFRA's concerns over public health.
Brother Michael said: "We tried to explore every avenue to resolve the government's concern and instead we came up against bureaucratic intransigence at its worst. The test they use to identify TB is not conclusive. It doesn't show whether Shambo has actually been infected, it just shows he's been exposed to the TB bacteria.
"We suggested further blood tests-we even offered to pay the £30 it costs-but they simply kept saying, 'It's not our policy.'"
Throughout its dispute with the temple, DEFRA had argued that Shambo could infect other animals if he continued to live. The temple, meanwhile, insisted that since the young bull was isolated and had only tested positive to exposure to TB bacteria he posed no risk.
Even though Skanda Vale finally lost its legal battle in court, the judge nonetheless ordered DEFRA to pay the temple's legal costs. The final bill-including the costs of killing Shambo-which ultimately will be footed by the taxpayer, looks set to run into the hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Sister Carol, one of five women to have taken the Franciscan vow of celibacy, poverty and obedience that makes a Skanda Vale devotee a monk or nun, was particularly critical of the money that she believed had been wasted by the government fighting over Shambo.
"They never wanted to negotiate from the beginning," she said. "But what exactly have they managed to achieve? Ultimately it's cost them almost a quarter of a million pounds to kill a bull."
The loss of Shambo is the second significant blow to the Skanda Vale community this year. Earlier this month, as the fight over Shambo first went to court, the temple's founder, a man known to his followers as Guru Sri Subramanium, died.
He had been ill for some time and had been staying in the hospice that the temple provides for both followers and locals.
Brother Francis said: "To lose our guru at such a key time was a big blow. But we still feel his presence."
Born in 1920 to a wealthy Sri Lankan family, Guru Subramanium moved to Europe shortly after the Second World War.
His followers say the young Sri Lankan was so horrified by the violence unleashed in the name of religion and ideology that he decided to create a temple somewhere in Europe that would unify the Western world's faiths with those further east.
Ten years of doing menial jobs in London including-according to his "official" biography-stints as a flower seller, nightclub singer and on the shop floor of Selfridges, Guru Subramanium had finally collected enough cash to found his first temple, which he did so in London. It was free to everyone and open to all faiths.
In 1973 his group bought a small, rundown farmhouse in Carmarthenshire with 115 acres and began building the Skanda Vale temple.
For more than 30 years, deep in the heart of Western Wales, a small but dedicated group of largely Western-born men and women have chosen to forego their societies' materialism in favour of a life of poverty, chastity and worship.
Despite Skanda Vale's isolated location-it lies four miles up a potholed track and mobile phone reception is non-existent-more than 60,000 pilgrims make their way to the temple each year.
Although the gods worshipped there and the form that worship takes is noticeably Hindu, like the first temple in London Skanda Vale is nondenominational.
It is one of the few places in the world where the priests administering pooja are predominantly white. Yesterday's crowd were a typically eclectic collection of believers. Swiss Hindu converts sat next to Asian Hindus from London, who sat singing next to local Christians.
Delyth Howells, who described herself as a Christian but one that had "learned more about Christ in Skanda Vale than from anything taught in church", said she had been visiting the temple for more than 20 years.
"The government have handled this with total disregard for the way things are done here," she said. "I know what's right and wrong and this is wrong. A life is a life."
Linda Salzmann, a Swiss national who arrived two days ago with her husband and five-year-old daughter Celina, was one of the few devotees yesterday to express any sympathy for the authorities.
"I can understand the government's position," she said. "They can't go back. But it must be a difficult decision for them."
Shortly before the police arrived, Brother Michael read out an email from a cow sanctuary in the Indian state of Maharashtra: "A number of cow sanctuaries in India have said they were willing to take Shambo and shipping had been arranged," he said. "But the Welsh Assembly refused the plan."
Although Skanda Vale has received some messages of support from the rural community-many of whom have watched their cattle be slaughtered because of TB -farmers unions have generally been critical of the way the temple refused to let Shambo be slaughtered. If the policy was that their cows were slaughtered because of TB, they argued, Shambo should be no different.
Last night the battle was lost. <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>But three other members of the temple's herd of cattle are showing signs of exposure to the TB bacteria. Whether DEFRA and the Welsh Assembly will have the stomach for another fight like yesterday's remains to be seen. </span>
http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2809195.ece