In pictures: Nepal festival season starts with goddess, dance

SUMMARY

Indra Jatra is an eight-day festival celebrated mostly by the Newar community, the native residents of Kathmandu. It is also known as the festival of deities and demons. It especially honors Indra, the Hindu god of rain, to mark the end of the monsoon season. Devotees pulled a girl believed to be a living goddess, Kumari, around Nepal's capital on a wooden chariot as tens of thousands of people lined the streets to get a glimpse and receive a blessing.

By APSept 15, 2019 1:01:11 PM IST (Published)

Masked dancers perform a traditional dance during Indra Jatra festival, an eight-day festival that honours Indra, the Hindu god of rain, in Kathmandu, Nepal. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

The girl child revered as the Living Goddess Kumari is pulled around Kathmandu in a wooden chariot. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Families gather for feasts and at shrines to light incense for the dead, and men and boys in colourful masks and gowns representing Hindu deities dance to the beat of traditional music and devotees' drums, drawing tens of thousands of spectators to the city's old streets. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A traditional mask dancer, known as Lakhe, performs during Indra Jatra festival. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Devotees sit next to a statue of god Bhairabh during Indra Jatra festival. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A devotee carries a revered living goddess Kumari, centre, to a chariot during Indra Jatra festival. The living goddess was pulled around the main parts of the capital Friday by devotees on a wooden chariot as tens of thousands of people lined up the old city to get a glimpse and blessing. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Devotees carry the chariot of living god Bhairabh during Indra Jatra festival. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

Devotees dance during Indra Jatra festival, an eight-day festival that honours Indra. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A former living goddess Kumari, middle, watches the Indra Jatra festival. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)

A priest covers the ears of living goddess Kumari as soldiers fire a gun as a part of rituals. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)