Ceremonial wedding with the god Vishnu at girls’ rite of passage in Patan, Nepal

Fathers hold their daughters in their laps as they give them away in marriage at 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.

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Filename: 4387.jpg
Copyright: Anders Ryman
Image Size: 5511x3661 / 18.9MB; Asia Asian ethnicity Emotion Girls Ihi Kathmandu Valley Lalitpur District Medium Group of People Men Nepal Nepalese Ethnicity Newar ethnicity Patan People Rite de Passage Rite of Passage affection cultural and ethnic dress daughter emotional emotions father life cycle ceremony mock-marriage offering parent and child tenderness
Contained in galleries: Three nuptials of the Newar, Nepal

Fathers hold their daughters in their laps as they give them away in marriage at 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.