"Ihi ceremony"

#13041226

30 November 2025

Girls from the Newa community take part in the Bel Bibaha ceremony, in which they are symbolically married to a bael fruit (wood apple), at Banglamukhi Temple in Lalitpur, Nepal, on November 29, 2025. The ritual is performed for girls aged between 5 and 9 years, typically before they reach puberty. The ceremony, also called the Ihi ceremony, is rooted in Hindu and Tantric traditions and serves to protect girls from social stigma, especially widowhood. The fruit symbolizes the god Vishnu, ensuring the girl is symbolically married to a divine entity for life.

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#13041227

30 November 2025

Girls from the Newa community take part in the Bel Bibaha ceremony, in which they are symbolically married to a bael fruit (wood apple), at Banglamukhi Temple in Lalitpur, Nepal, on November 29, 2025. The ritual is performed for girls aged between 5 and 9 years, typically before they reach puberty. The ceremony, also called the Ihi ceremony, is rooted in Hindu and Tantric traditions and serves to protect girls from social stigma, especially widowhood. The fruit symbolizes the god Vishnu, ensuring the girl is symbolically married to a divine entity for life.

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#13041228

30 November 2025

Girls from the Newa community take part in the Bel Bibaha ceremony, in which they are symbolically married to a bael fruit (wood apple), at Banglamukhi Temple in Lalitpur, Nepal, on November 29, 2025. The ritual is performed for girls aged between 5 and 9 years, typically before they reach puberty. The ceremony, also called the Ihi ceremony, is rooted in Hindu and Tantric traditions and serves to protect girls from social stigma, especially widowhood. The fruit symbolizes the god Vishnu, ensuring the girl is symbolically married to a divine entity for life.

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#13041229

30 November 2025

Girls from the Newa community take part in the Bel Bibaha ceremony, in which they are symbolically married to a bael fruit (wood apple), at Banglamukhi Temple in Lalitpur, Nepal, on November 29, 2025. The ritual is performed for girls aged between 5 and 9 years, typically before they reach puberty. The ceremony, also called the Ihi ceremony, is rooted in Hindu and Tantric traditions and serves to protect girls from social stigma, especially widowhood. The fruit symbolizes the god Vishnu, ensuring the girl is symbolically married to a divine entity for life.

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#13041230

30 November 2025

Girls from the Newa community take part in the Bel Bibaha ceremony, in which they are symbolically married to a bael fruit (wood apple), at Banglamukhi Temple in Lalitpur, Nepal, on November 29, 2025. The ritual is performed for girls aged between 5 and 9 years, typically before they reach puberty. The ceremony, also called the Ihi ceremony, is rooted in Hindu and Tantric traditions and serves to protect girls from social stigma, especially widowhood. The fruit symbolizes the god Vishnu, ensuring the girl is symbolically married to a divine entity for life.

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#13041231

30 November 2025

Girls from the Newa community take part in the Bel Bibaha ceremony, in which they are symbolically married to a bael fruit (wood apple), at Banglamukhi Temple in Lalitpur, Nepal, on November 29, 2025. The ritual is performed for girls aged between 5 and 9 years, typically before they reach puberty. The ceremony, also called the Ihi ceremony, is rooted in Hindu and Tantric traditions and serves to protect girls from social stigma, especially widowhood. The fruit symbolizes the god Vishnu, ensuring the girl is symbolically married to a divine entity for life.

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#10994684

14 February 2024

Dozens of girls are participating in a mass ''ihi'' or ''bael bibaha'' ceremony, a coming-of-age ritual practiced by the Newar community in Bhaktapur. The two-day ceremony, which is usually held several times a year, involves pre-adolescent girls ''marrying'' the Hindu deity Vishnu, symbolized by the local ''bael'' (wood apple) fruit. Typically, Newar girls marry three times in their lives: first with the Bael fruit, second with the sun, and third with a human.

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#10994685

14 February 2024

Dozens of girls are participating in a mass ''ihi'' or ''bael bibaha'' ceremony, a coming-of-age ritual practiced by the Newar community in Bhaktapur. The two-day ceremony, which is usually held several times a year, involves pre-adolescent girls ''marrying'' the Hindu deity Vishnu, symbolized by the local ''bael'' (wood apple) fruit. Typically, Newar girls marry three times in their lives: first with the Bael fruit, second with the sun, and third with a human.

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#10994686

14 February 2024

Dozens of girls are participating in a mass ''ihi'' or ''bael bibaha'' ceremony, a coming-of-age ritual practiced by the Newar community in Bhaktapur. The two-day ceremony, which is usually held several times a year, involves pre-adolescent girls ''marrying'' the Hindu deity Vishnu, symbolized by the local ''bael'' (wood apple) fruit. Typically, Newar girls marry three times in their lives: first with the Bael fruit, second with the sun, and third with a human.

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#10994687

14 February 2024

Dozens of girls are participating in a mass ''ihi'' or ''bael bibaha'' ceremony, a coming-of-age ritual practiced by the Newar community in Bhaktapur. The two-day ceremony, which is usually held several times a year, involves pre-adolescent girls ''marrying'' the Hindu deity Vishnu, symbolized by the local ''bael'' (wood apple) fruit. Typically, Newar girls marry three times in their lives: first with the Bael fruit, second with the sun, and third with a human.

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#10994688

14 February 2024

Dozens of girls are participating in a mass ''ihi'' or ''bael bibaha'' ceremony, a coming-of-age ritual practiced by the Newar community in Bhaktapur. The two-day ceremony, which is usually held several times a year, involves pre-adolescent girls ''marrying'' the Hindu deity Vishnu, symbolized by the local ''bael'' (wood apple) fruit. Typically, Newar girls marry three times in their lives: first with the Bael fruit, second with the sun, and third with a human.

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#10994689

14 February 2024

Dozens of girls are participating in a mass ''ihi'' or ''bael bibaha'' ceremony, a coming-of-age ritual practiced by the Newar community in Bhaktapur. The two-day ceremony, which is usually held several times a year, involves pre-adolescent girls ''marrying'' the Hindu deity Vishnu, symbolized by the local ''bael'' (wood apple) fruit. Typically, Newar girls marry three times in their lives: first with the Bael fruit, second with the sun, and third with a human.

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#10994690

14 February 2024

Dozens of girls are participating in a mass ''ihi'' or ''bael bibaha'' ceremony, a coming-of-age ritual practiced by the Newar community in Bhaktapur. The two-day ceremony, which is usually held several times a year, involves pre-adolescent girls ''marrying'' the Hindu deity Vishnu, symbolized by the local ''bael'' (wood apple) fruit. Typically, Newar girls marry three times in their lives: first with the Bael fruit, second with the sun, and third with a human.

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#10994691

14 February 2024

Dozens of girls are participating in a mass ''ihi'' or ''bael bibaha'' ceremony, a coming-of-age ritual practiced by the Newar community in Bhaktapur. The two-day ceremony, which is usually held several times a year, involves pre-adolescent girls ''marrying'' the Hindu deity Vishnu, symbolized by the local ''bael'' (wood apple) fruit. Typically, Newar girls marry three times in their lives: first with the Bael fruit, second with the sun, and third with a human.

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#10994692

14 February 2024

Dozens of girls are participating in a mass ''ihi'' or ''bael bibaha'' ceremony, a coming-of-age ritual practiced by the Newar community in Bhaktapur. The two-day ceremony, which is usually held several times a year, involves pre-adolescent girls ''marrying'' the Hindu deity Vishnu, symbolized by the local ''bael'' (wood apple) fruit. Typically, Newar girls marry three times in their lives: first with the Bael fruit, second with the sun, and third with a human.

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#10994693

14 February 2024

Dozens of girls are participating in a mass ''ihi'' or ''bael bibaha'' ceremony, a coming-of-age ritual practiced by the Newar community in Bhaktapur. The two-day ceremony, which is usually held several times a year, involves pre-adolescent girls ''marrying'' the Hindu deity Vishnu, symbolized by the local ''bael'' (wood apple) fruit. Typically, Newar girls marry three times in their lives: first with the Bael fruit, second with the sun, and third with a human.

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