Festival season starts with devotees honouring a living goddess

Living God Ganesh Rodin Shakya is presented in front of the crowd while being carried into his chariot during the annual Indra Jatra festival to worship Indra, Kumari and other deities and to mark the end of monsoon season in Kathmandu, Nepal September 17, 2024. REUTERS/Monika Malla REFILE - CORRECTING "LIVING GODDESS KUMARI TRISHNA SHAKYA" TO "LIVING GOD GANESH RODIN SHAKYA" AND CORRECTING PRONOUN

THE monthslong festival season here has begun with tens of thousands of devotees pulling a wooden chariot with a young girl revered as a living goddess.

Families gathered for feasts and lit incense for the dead at shrines. Men and boys in colourful masks and gowns representing Hindu deities danced to traditional music and drums, drawing throngs of spectators to Kathmandu’s old streets.