Hardline Hindu group, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS, National Volunteer Corps) called for an end to the "barbaric practice" of animal sacrifice in India.
The RSS, which is the ideological mentor of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), pointed out in its mouthpiece "Organiser" that god did not need animal sacrifices to "bestow grace" on his devotees on Friday.
"There is a great need to cleanse Hinduism. And the time is now," said the newspaper.
"Does god require animal sacrifices to bestow grace on his devotees? What kind of religion is it that demands the killing of animals for whatever reason? What sort of Hinduism are we practising?" it added.
The Organiser also carried glowing praise for Jayalalitha Jayaram, the provincial chief of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu for cracking down on animal sacrifices.
In August Jayaram ordered authorities to put an end to animal sacrifice in Tamil Nadu after police allegedly stood by at a Hindu temple in the southern district of Tiruchirapalli as 500 buffaloes were slaughtered to please the gods.
A deputy superintendent of police was suspended over the case.
A ban on animal sacrifice is already in force in most Indian states but police often turn a blind eye when animals are slaughtered at rural temples following local traditions.
Last year Nepal's King Gyanendra infuriated animal rights activists when he offered buffalo, sheep, goat and ducks to be slaughtered at a temple dedicated to the goddess of strength Kamakhya during a visit to the northeastern Indian state of Assam.