"girls' 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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#12886344

20 October 2025

Girls dress as a Kumari, who is worshiped by devotees during rituals to celebrate the Hindu festival of Kali Puja at a temple in Kolkata, India, on October 20, 2025. Kali is a Hindu goddess who represents the opposing forces of creation and destruction, death and rebirth, and time.

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#12886347

20 October 2025

Devotees worship girls dressed as a Kumari during rituals to celebrate the Hindu festival of Kali Puja at a temple in Kolkata, India, on October 20, 2025. Kali is a Hindu goddess who represents the opposing forces of creation and destruction, death and rebirth, and time.

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#12886348

20 October 2025

Devotees worship girls dressed as a Kumari during rituals to celebrate the Hindu festival of Kali Puja at a temple in Kolkata, India, on October 20, 2025. Kali is a Hindu goddess who represents the opposing forces of creation and destruction, death and rebirth, and time.

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#12886369

20 October 2025

Devotees worship girls dressed as a Kumari during rituals to celebrate the Hindu festival of Kali Puja at a temple in Kolkata, India, on October 20, 2025. Kali is a Hindu goddess who represents the opposing forces of creation and destruction, death and rebirth, and time.

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#12886353

20 October 2025

A Hindu priest offers prayer to girls dressed as a Kumari, who is worshiped by devotees during rituals to celebrate the Hindu festival of Kali Puja at a temple in Kolkata, India, on October 20, 2025. Kali is a Hindu goddess who represents the opposing forces of creation and destruction, death and rebirth, and time.

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#12886361

20 October 2025

A Hindu priest offers prayer to girls dressed as a Kumari, who is worshiped by devotees during rituals to celebrate the Hindu festival of Kali Puja at a temple in Kolkata, India, on October 20, 2025. Kali is a Hindu goddess who represents the opposing forces of creation and destruction, death and rebirth, and time.

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#12886373

20 October 2025

A Hindu priest offers prayer to girls dressed as a Kumari, who is worshiped by devotees during rituals to celebrate the Hindu festival of Kali Puja at a temple in Kolkata, India, on October 20, 2025. Kali is a Hindu goddess who represents the opposing forces of creation and destruction, death and rebirth, and time.

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#12886368

20 October 2025

Devotees take blessings from an oil lamp after girls dressed as a Kumari are worshiped by devotees during rituals to celebrate the Hindu festival of Kali Puja at a temple in Kolkata, India, on October 20, 2025. Kali is a Hindu goddess who represents the opposing forces of creation and destruction, death and rebirth, and time.

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#12797401

26 September 2025

Two young Iranian girls stand together during a ceremony commemorating the 45th anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) and the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, in a park in Malard County in the south of Tehran, Iran, on September 25, 2025.

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#12797435

26 September 2025

Young Iranian girls wearing veils hold the country's flags and wait to perform in a ceremony commemorating the 45th anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) and the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, in a park in Malard county in the south of Tehran, Iran, on September 25, 2025.

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