The gods of Nepal do not represent a forgotten era of the past. The deities here are living, and participate in the ordinary existence of everyday life as much as we mere mortals do. Nowhere is this exemplified more charmingly than in the uniquely Nepalese custom of Bel-Marriage (Ihi ceremony). Traditionally the Newars (the predominant ethnic group of the valley), marry off their pre-pubescent girls to a fruit of the Bel tree which symbolizes Lord Vishnu himself. The marriage ceremony is elaborate, accompanied by a feast.
By this custom, if a Newari's future mortal husband should die, she is not considered a widow because she is still married to Vishnu. The Newar "widow" therefore undergoes none of the often disagreeable sanctions imposed on widows.
Hence is solved the enchanting mystery behind those smartly dressed adolescent girls, thronging the streets of Kathmandu, who in spite of not being married in the 'earthly' sense, nevertheless adorn their foreheads with thick swabs of vermilion associated in India solely with a married status.
Here such a ceremony taking place in Kathmandu Durbar Square.
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oldgoa, Aljim, sonimi, and 57 other people added this photo to their favorites.
oldgoa 65 months ago | reply
la docezza e il colore. complimenti
NW-X 65 months ago | reply
simply beautiful!
Seen in Global Spirit
john a d willis (away 2 weeks) 65 months ago | reply
what a lovely image ,with gorgeous colours
dadouh73 59 months ago | reply
Bonjour jmhullot,
Enfin un des rares français sur ce site .M'autoriseriez-vous à dessiner cette magnifique photo qui m'émeut particulièrement et éventuellement la mettre dans ma galerie.
Merci de votre réponse
Anuma S. Bhattarai 58 months ago | reply
InkHong 52 months ago | reply
I pick this photograph to be on the cover of National Geographic
National Geographic: Are You Good Enough?
Handheld-Films 51 months ago | reply
beautiful colours, composition and subject - very evocative
akurylec 44 months ago | reply
so emotional..thanks for sharing
g567hey [deleted] 43 months ago | reply
extremely beautiful and outstanding, chapeau!
mageenmodeltoo 40 months ago | reply
in my cast ,,, all this girls need to do this :) ,,, verry intresting cultuur !!!
© Jamie Mitchell 36 months ago | reply
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Kathmandu!, and we'd love to have this added to the group!
ceinuel 36 months ago | reply
nice photo graph its call bell biwah in newari culture
© Jamie Mitchell 34 months ago | reply
This photo has been awarded - THE KATHMANDU काठमांडौ AWARD
Please Join us at Kathmandu काठमांडौ
Flickr1573 33 months ago | reply
Dear Ma'am,
We really liked your images of Kathmandu (Nepal).
We are doing a cover story on Kathmandu (Nepal) for Spice Route magazine (an inflight magazine of Spicejet airlines).
We would like to share some of your photos as a cover image for the magazine (July issue).
Please contact us at asha@maxposure.in asap.
or contact Florina@ 9871251014.
regards,
asha
James & Billion Shades 32 months ago | reply
Nice shot. I would love to see this image in the group below built to promote Nepal Tourism Year 2011. The images in this group are featured in www.nepaltourismyear2011.info/Gallery as well.
Group: www.flickr.com/groups/nepaltourismyear/
BimalNepal 31 months ago | reply
AWESOME! Great composition, Outstanding color capture, great work!
hereyouart 21 months ago | reply
Beautiful!
himalayanfootsteps 17 months ago | reply
Thanks for sharing this wonderful portrait as a CC! We will use it for an article on the Newari weddings on our website at www.himalayanfootsteps.com/news