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Living Hinduism { 25 images } Created 10 Jun 2017

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  • — Swasthani Puja is one the important Hindu festivals of Nepal & coincides with the main Hindu festival of Madhav Narayan. The month-long festival in Sankhu is dedicated to the goddess, Shree Swasthani, who grants the devotees their boon (wish) if they successfully complete their month-long fast.
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  • — Women are the primary participants of the Swasthani Puja. Annually, about 200 pilgrims leave their families and villages to fast and pray for their family's well-being, or for a good husband if they are unmarried. In the evening, before sunset, the devotees chant the sacred hymns & offer gifts to the other pilgrims, completing a full day of worship.
    Sankhu-L74-3.jpg
  • — Hindu men play a subordinate role in this festival, escorting the pilgrims to and from the place of worship to the home-stays where the women temporarily reside. The white garments worn by the men symbolize purity and cleanliness.
    Sankhu-L173-2.jpg
  • — After the morning’s holy bath in the Salinadi River, the pilgrims warm themselves around fires and the puja (prayer ritual) of the Shree Swasthani begins.
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  • — Every morning, other Hindu believers surround the area where the women worship, also chanting & reciting prayers. The place where the women worship is considered very holy and casual spectators cannot enter that space. During this month, the women cannot eat meat or even wear anything made from an animal’s hide; if they come in physical contact with someone who eats meat or wears leather, they are contaminated and their prayers will not be answered.
    Sankhu-L195-3.jpg
  • — Many Hindu men and women visit the pilgrims in Sankhu at least once during the festival, demonstrating their support by offering them gifts of food or money.
    Sankhu-L373-2.jpg
  • — The women fast from sunrise to sunset when they are worshiping the Goddess Swasthani. Part of the role of escorting the devotees is preparing and giving a packet of rice to each woman for their evening meal, their only one for the day.
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  • — The month-long festival is difficult, testing the pilgrims’ resolve and faith. In order to overcome the hardships, the women support each other, forming alliances and new friendships that continue throughout their lives.
    Sankhu-L397-3.jpg
  • — When a woman marries, she leaves her own family to live with her husband’s. After the wedding ceremony is complete (sometimes taking 4 - 5 days), the adult men leave the ceremonial area, allowing the bride to formally say good-bye to her family and demonstrate her great sorrow.
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  • — The bride’s relatives gather around her waiting for their turn to wish her good fortune in the next stage of her life.
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  • — A descendant of the Magar caste.
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  • — The Hindu scriptures mandate that when the physical body dies, it be cremated; it is the last rite of 16 life rituals. After the crowds disperse, the son and other family members will carry the body to the cremation ghat across the river. According to custom, the son will light the funeral pyre.
    Bhaktapur-L1301-2.jpg
  • — Before sunrise, crowds begin to gather at Pashupatinath Temple, the most sacred Hindu temple in Nepal. Thousands of Hindus, both young and old, from all over Nepal and India make a pilgrimage to Pashupatinath to celebrate Shiva’s marriage to Parvati, the Supreme Goddess/Being.
    Pashupatinath-L73-2.jpg
  • — Shiva and Pavrati watch over the many sadhus at the temple as they perform the Shivalinga puja (worship). Although there are a few female sadhus (ascetics), the majority are men. They are dedicated to achieving moksha, the final stage of spiritual evolution, renouncing any attachments to the pleasures of life.
    Pashupatinath-L118-2.jpg
  • — Cannabis is considered one of the five sacred plants in Hinduism and was originally created by Shiva when he purified the amrita (drink of immortality). Sadhus use it because of its association with Shiva, and the government permits it.
    Pashupatinath-L552-2.jpg
  • — As morning opens the new day, the daily rituals of the sadhus begin. Here in Varanasi, the Brahmin priest rolls a cannabis smoke for meditation while a sadhu places flower petals around the fire. Like the flowing waters of the Ganga River, Hindus believe that these traditions flow on from an ancient past to a renewable spiritual future.
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  • — Pradib Tuwari is one of many naga (naked) sadhus who attended the month-long Kumbha Mela in Allahabad, India, 2013. Sadhus are respected for their holiness and revered by Hindus as representatives of the gods.
    NagaSadhu-L722-2.jpg
  • — Although Bhaktapur has a booming tourist trade, most of the residents are poor, eking out their living as laborers or farmers, and living in dilapidated Newari brick homes. This kind of poverty is typical of most Hindus living in Nepal and northern India.
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  • — On the final day of the Madhav Narayan festival in Bhaktapur, devotees prepare themselves for the last ceremony that brings the month-long festival to an end. In this ceremony, men are the primary participants and women are the attendees, supporting and assisting them with the enactment of the rituals.
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  • — Ceremonial bells ringing, drum rattles shaking to the rhythmic beat of a bass drum as devotees chant the holy hymns.
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  • — Duru Kaji, one of the spiritual leaders of Bhaktapur, inside the temple on the banks of the Hanumante River.
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  • — Conch shells raised, blasting like trumpets, announcing the commencement of the last ceremony of the Madhav Narayan festival. Conch shells are a symbol of Vishnu and are an essential part of Hindu religious practices. Hindus also believe they symbolize the sound (AUM) that created the universe.
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  • — Hindu devotees circumambulate the Hanuman Ghat before taking a holy bath in the Hanumante River. Attendees sweep the path and light fires on the periphery to ward off evil spirits from the holy ground.
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  • — The devotees move in a clockwise direction along the stone pathway (Pradakshina path) that surrounds the temple. Women who participated in the Swasthani festival have returned to Bhaktapur and take an active part in the ceremonial rites.
    Bhaktapur-L1259-2.jpg
  • — In Hinduism, this ambulatory rite symbolizes the transition from daily life to spiritual perfection, depicted as a journey completed through various stages. As another day opens in the 21st century, it appears that these ancient rituals still play a significant role in sustaining and leading its devotees into an unknown future. But is it enough to ward off the competitive lure of modernism? Or is the loss of these traditions inevitable? The journey continues.
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