Editorial photo #12256429 Arts, Culture and Entertainment

Nepal Hosts Tattoo Convention

Tattoo artists and enthusiasts get tattooed during the ''Nepal Tattoo Convention'' organized in Lalitpur, Nepal, on April 12, 2025. Tattoo culture in Nepal is one of the oldest traditions practiced widely by the Newa:, Tharu, Gurungs, and Magar, the aboriginals of the Himalayan nation. According to the younger generation, traditional tattoos lack precise details, linking them more to the communities and spiritual beliefs, but modern tattoo designs focus more on aesthetics. Driven by aesthetic values, younger generations now fuse traditional beliefs with modern designs to ink various parts of their bodies. In Kathmandu Valley, tattoos in the past were mostly done during the Jatras (festivals) and Melas (carnivals) like Rato Machindra Jatra and Indra Jatra. Kathmandu's Tebahal and Bhaktapur's Thimi are famous for tattoo art, which is called ''Lha: Chyogu'' in the Nepali Bhasha or the Newa: language. 'Lha' in Newa: means 'flesh' and 'chyogu' means 'writing'; the tattoo on the legs of Newari women symbolizes their strength, and a belief follows that a person takes nothing but the tattoos on their body after death. On the way to heaven, if one finds hardships, they can sell the tattoos and therefore make the way to heaven more comfortably. Back then, coal and milk were mixed with plants to produce colors for the ink used to design the tattoos. Now, inks are widely used, poured into a machine, and then run over the sketched areas of the body. (Photo by Subaas Shrestha/NurPhoto)