"ailments"

#13169150

8 January 2026

A Nepali vendor sorts yams in a local market in Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 8, 2026, ahead of the Maghe Sakranti festival. The festival of Maghe Sakranti, the first day of Magh, is celebrated by consuming different tuber crops, mainly yam and sweet potato. People boil yams in the evening of the last day of Poush, the 9th month of the lunar calendar, and eat them the next morning with ghee and molasses. It is widely believed that the boiled yams taken on the morning of Maghe Sakranti stave off cold-related ailments.

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#13169151

8 January 2026

A Nepali vendor rests near the piles of yams in a local market in Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 8, 2026, ahead of the Maghe Sakranti festival. The festival of Maghe Sakranti (first day of Magh) is celebrated and marked by consuming different tuber crops, mainly yam and sweet potato. People boil yams in the evening of the last day of Poush (9th month of the lunar calendar) and eat them the next morning with ghee and molasses. It is widely believed that the boiled yams taken on the morning of Maghe Sakranti stave off cold-related ailments.

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#13169152

8 January 2026

A Nepali consumer sorts the yams in a local market in Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 8, 2026, ahead of the Maghe Sakranti festival. The festival of Maghe Sakranti (first day of Magh) is celebrated and marked by consuming different tuber crops, mainly yam and sweet potato. People boil yams in the evening of the last day of Poush (9th month of the lunar calendar) and consume them the next morning with ghee and molasses. It is widely believed that the boiled yams taken on the morning of Maghe Sakranti stave off cold-related ailments.

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#13169153

8 January 2026

Nepali consumers sort the yams in a local market in Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 8, 2026, ahead of the Maghe Sakranti festival. The festival of Maghe Sakranti, the first day of Magh, is celebrated and marked by consuming different tuber crops, mainly yam and sweet potato. People boil yams in the evening of the last day of Poush, the 9th month of the lunar calendar, and consume them the next morning with ghee and molasses. It is widely believed that the boiled yams taken on the morning of Maghe Sakranti stave off cold-related ailments.

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#13169154

8 January 2026

A Nepali consumer sorts the yams in a local market in Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 8, 2026, ahead of the Maghe Sakranti festival. The festival of Maghe Sakranti (first day of Magh) is celebrated and marked by consuming different tuber crops, mainly yam and sweet potato. People boil yams in the evening of the last day of Poush (9th month of the lunar calendar) and consume them the next morning with ghee and molasses. It is widely believed that the boiled yams taken on the morning of Maghe Sakranti stave off cold-related ailments.

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#13169155

8 January 2026

Nepali consumers sort the yams in a local market in Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 8, 2026, ahead of the Maghe Sakranti festival. The festival of Maghe Sakranti, the first day of Magh, is celebrated and marked by consuming different tuber crops, mainly yam and sweet potato. People boil yams in the evening of the last day of Poush, the 9th month of the lunar calendar, and consume them the next morning with ghee and molasses. It is widely believed that the boiled yams taken on the morning of Maghe Sakranti stave off cold-related ailments.

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#13169162

8 January 2026

A Nepali consumer sorts the yams in a local market in Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 8, 2026, ahead of the Maghe Sakranti festival. The festival of Maghe Sakranti (first day of Magh) is celebrated and marked by consuming different tuber crops, mainly yam and sweet potato. People boil yams in the evening of the last day of Poush (9th month of the lunar calendar) and consume them the next morning with ghee and molasses. It is widely believed that the boiled yams taken on the morning of Maghe Sakranti stave off cold-related ailments.

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#13169163

8 January 2026

A Nepali consumer sorts the yams in a local market in Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 8, 2026, ahead of the Maghe Sakranti festival. The festival of Maghe Sakranti (first day of Magh) is celebrated and marked by consuming different tuber crops, mainly yam and sweet potato. People boil yams in the evening of the last day of Poush (9th month of the lunar calendar) and consume them the next morning with ghee and molasses. It is widely believed that the boiled yams taken on the morning of Maghe Sakranti stave off cold-related ailments.

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#13169164

8 January 2026

A Nepali consumer carries a bag full of yams over his shoulders after purchasing it from a local market in Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 8, 2026. The festival of Maghe Sakranti (first day of Magh) is celebrated and marked by consuming different tuber crops, mainly yam and sweet potato. People boil yams in the evening of the last day of Poush (9th month of the lunar calendar) and eat them the next morning with ghee and molasses. It is widely believed that the boiled yams taken on the morning of Maghe Sakranti stave off cold-related ailments.

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#13169165

8 January 2026

A pile of yams is kept for sale in a local market in Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 8, 2026, ahead of the Maghe Sakranti festival. The festival of Maghe Sakranti, the first day of Magh, is celebrated and marked by consuming different tuber crops, mainly yam and sweet potato. People boil yams in the evening of the last day of Poush, the 9th month of the lunar calendar, and eat them the next morning with ghee and molasses. It is widely believed that the boiled yams taken on the morning of Maghe Sakranti stave off cold-related ailments.

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#13169166

8 January 2026

A Nepali vendor sorts yams in a local market in Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 8, 2026, ahead of the Maghe Sakranti festival. The festival of Maghe Sakranti, the first day of Magh, is celebrated by consuming different tuber crops, mainly yam and sweet potato. People boil yams in the evening of the last day of Poush, the 9th month of the lunar calendar, and eat them the next morning with ghee and molasses. It is widely believed that the boiled yams taken on the morning of Maghe Sakranti stave off cold-related ailments.

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#13169167

8 January 2026

A Nepali vendor rests near the piles of yams in a local market in Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 8, 2026, ahead of the Maghe Sakranti festival. The festival of Maghe Sakranti (first day of Magh) is celebrated and marked by consuming different tuber crops, mainly yam and sweet potato. People boil yams in the evening of the last day of Poush (9th month of the lunar calendar) and eat them the next morning with ghee and molasses. It is widely believed that the boiled yams taken on the morning of Maghe Sakranti stave off cold-related ailments.

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#13169168

8 January 2026

A pile of yams is kept for sale in a local market in Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 8, 2026, ahead of the Maghe Sakranti festival. The festival of Maghe Sakranti, the first day of Magh, is celebrated and marked by consuming different tuber crops, mainly yam and sweet potato. People boil yams in the evening of the last day of Poush, the 9th month of the lunar calendar, and eat them the next morning with ghee and molasses. It is widely believed that the boiled yams taken on the morning of Maghe Sakranti stave off cold-related ailments.

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#13169169

8 January 2026

A Nepali vendor sorts yams in a local market in Kathmandu, Nepal, on January 8, 2026, ahead of the Maghe Sakranti festival. The festival of Maghe Sakranti, the first day of Magh, is celebrated by consuming different tuber crops, mainly yam and sweet potato. People boil yams in the evening of the last day of Poush, the 9th month of the lunar calendar, and eat them the next morning with ghee and molasses. It is widely believed that the boiled yams taken on the morning of Maghe Sakranti stave off cold-related ailments.

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#12434113

1 June 2025

The idol of Lord Rato Machhindranath is installed in a newly built temple in Bungmati, Lalitpur, Nepal, on June 1, 2025, after completing the Bhoto Jatra procession. The chariot procession of Rato Machhindranath is observed for at least a month to four months and ends with the showing of the 'Bhoto,' expecting the rightful owner to come and claim it. Historians claim that the chariot procession of Machhindranath started around 1,300 years ago. According to legend, shortly after the procession starts, the queen of the serpent king Karkotak develops an eye ailment. While searching for a healer, Karkotak mistakes a farmer working in the fields for a physician and brings him to Taudaha, a wetland on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Frightened, the farmer prays to Machhindranath and rubs his hands on the soil to make an herbal paste. He offers it to Karkotak as medicine, and the paste cures the queen's eyes. Grateful, Karkotak rewards the farmer with a jewel-studded vest (bhoto) and returns him to the human world. The farmer begins wearing the bhoto while working in his fields. One day, a ghost in human form steals the vest. The farmer searches everywhere but cannot find it. Later, while attending the Machhindranath chariot festival, he sees the ghost wearing the same vest and claims it as his. When the ghost refuses to return it, a dispute breaks out. People summon Karkotak to resolve the conflict. In the end, because neither party can prove ownership, they entrust the bhoto to Machhindranath. Since then, devotees follow the tradition of displaying the bhoto after the chariot procession, hoping that someone with valid proof of ownership will come forward. Each year, they display the sacred vest on an auspicious date. According to legend, no one has succeeded in proving ownership of the bhoto so far.

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#12434114

1 June 2025

Municipal cleanliness staff wash the ground ahead of the Bhoto Jatra procession, which marks the end of the months-long Rato Machhindranath chariot procession in Lalitpur, Nepal, on June 1, 2025. The chariot procession of Rato Machhindranath is observed for at least one month to four months and ends with the showing of the 'Bhoto,' expecting the rightful owner to come and claim it. Historians claim that the chariot procession of Machhindranath started around 1,300 years ago. According to legend, shortly after the procession started, the queen of the serpent king Karkotak developed an eye ailment. While searching for a healer, Karkotak mistook a farmer working in the fields for a physician and brought him to Taudaha, a wetland on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Frightened, the farmer prays to Machhindranath and rubs his hands on the soil to make an herbal paste. He offers it to Karkotak as medicine, and the paste cures the queen's eyes. Grateful, Karkotak rewards the farmer with a jewel-studded vest (bhoto) and returns him to the human world. The farmer begins wearing the bhoto while working in his fields. One day, a ghost in human form steals the vest. The farmer searches everywhere but cannot find it. Later, while attending the Machhindranath chariot festival, he sees the ghost wearing the same vest and claims it as his. When the ghost refuses to return it, a dispute breaks out. People summon Karkotak to resolve the conflict. In the end, because neither party can prove ownership, they entrust the bhoto to Machhindranath. Since then, devotees follow the tradition of displaying the bhoto after the chariot procession, hoping that someone with valid proof of ownership will come forward. Each year, they display the sacred vest on an auspicious date. According to legend, no one has succeeded in proving ownership of the bhoto so far.

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