Nepal's festival season starts with a parade for a living goddess

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KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — The old palace in the heart of Nepal's Kathmandu was packed to the brim as tens of thousands of devotees celebrated the beginning of the monthslong festival season on Saturday.

Men and boys in colorful masks and gowns representing Hindu deities danced to traditional music and drums, drawing throngs of spectators as families gathered for feasts and lit incense for the dead at shrines.

The weeklong Indra Jatra festival is the first of many other coming celebrations in the predominantly Hindu nation, which include Dasain, the main festival, celebrated later this month, and Tihar, or Diwali, the festival of lights, in October.

In the heart of the crowd, devotees could be seen pulling a wooden chariot with a young girl, known as Kumari, or virgin in the Nepali language, who is revered as a living goddess by Hindus and Buddhists.

Tens of thousands of devotees lined up the narrow streets of inner Kathmandu to worship Kumari, including Nepal's president, prime minister and several top officials.

The Indra Jatra festival marks the end of the monsoon and rice farming season and signals the dawn of fall. It’s celebrated mostly by the Newar community, the native residents of Kathmandu. It is also known as the festival of deities and demons and especially honors Indra, the Hindu god of rain.

The masked dancers, one of the highlights of the ceremony, can be fearsome, entertaining and awe-inspiring, depending on the performers’ movements.