Newar girl in ceremonial clothes at rite of passage ritual in Patan, Nepal

Newar girl in ceremonial clothes at her 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: 4518.jpg
Copyright: Copyright © 2004 Anders Ryman. All rights reserved.
Image Size: 3695x5592 / 13.2MB; Asia Asian ethnicity Asians Buddhism Buddhist Hindu Hinduism Ihi Kathmandu Valley Lalitpur District Life Cycle Ritual Marriage Nepal Nepalese Ethnicity Newar Newar ethnicity One Person with Others Patan People Red Religion Rite of Passage South Asia ceremony colour image colour photography girl initiation mock-marriage religious rite ritual
Contained in galleries: Three nuptials of the Newar, Nepal

Newar girl in ceremonial clothes at her 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.