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The eight-day Indra Jatra festival is one of the most important festivals of the Newar community in the Kathmandu Valley. It also marks the beginning of a month-long autumn festival season. It begins with people erecting a pine tree in Basantapur Square in front of the old Hanuman Dhoka Palace.
Masked dancers perform on the first day of the Indra Jatra festival in Basantapur Durbar Square, Kathmandu.
Masked performers, known as lakhay, take to the streets almost every evening, accompanied by loud drumming.
People commemorate the moment when the god Indra descended from heaven to earth in human form to search for a particular herb.
A girl dressed as the goddess Kumari participates in Kumari Puja (an activity during the Indra Jatra festival, in which young, unmarried girls are selected to dress up as the goddess Kumari). Candidates undergo a rigorous selection process before one is chosen to represent the goddess.
A girl's feet are washed clean before she is dressed up as the goddess Kumari.
The girls have prepared for Kumari Puja.
It is believed that the child chosen to dress up as the goddess Kumari will be blessed with good health for life.
