Scattering grains of rice as an offering at a rite of passage ritual in Patan, Nepal.

Girls and their mothers scatter grains of rice as an offering to the gods while a priest conducts the rituals for the girls’ Ihi ceremony, a mock marriage to the Hindu god Vishnu, in Patan in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Among the Newars, who are the original inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley, every girl goes through this ceremony sometime between the age of five and ten. The Ihi makes the girl a full member of her father's family and caste and is also said to make sure that she will never become a widow, even if later on her future human husband would die, since she will forever be married to the god Vishnu. The Ihi is therefore for the Newar women a protection against the stigmatization of widows otherwise common in Hindu culture.

Add to Cart Add to Lightbox Download

Filename: 4359.jpg
Copyright: Copyright © 2004 Anders Ryman. All rights reserved.
Image Size: 5148x3411 / 10.6MB; Asia Asian ethnicity Asians Buddhism Buddhist Girls Hindu Hinduism Ihi Kathmandu Valley Lalitpur District Large Group of People Life Cycle Ritual Marriage Nepal Nepalese Ethnicity Newar Newar ethnicity Patan People Red Religion Rite of Passage South Asia Women ceremony colour image colour photography daughter initiation mock-marriage mother offering parent and child religious rite ritual
Contained in galleries: Three nuptials of the Newar, Nepal

Girls and their mothers scatter grains of rice as an offering to the gods while a priest conducts the rituals for the girls’ Ihi ceremony, a mock marriage to the Hindu god Vishnu, in Patan in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Among the Newars, who are the original inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley, every girl goes through this ceremony sometime between the age of five and ten. The Ihi makes the girl a full member of her father's family and caste and is also said to make sure that she will never become a widow, even if later on her future human husband would die, since she will forever be married to the god Vishnu. The Ihi is therefore for the Newar women a protection against the stigmatization of widows otherwise common in Hindu culture.