Daily life at Bodnath stupa in Kathmandu
SEL0149272 © Lourdes Segade
Street life in Bakhtapur
SEL0149271 © Lourdes Segade
A monk in the garden of the Kopan Buddhist monastery in Kathmandu. All over Asia, it is common for poor families to take their children to monasteries so that they can receive an education, health care and healthy meals.
SEL0149269 © Lourdes Segade
Visitors at the Kumari's house at Kathmandu's Durbar Square
SEL0149268 © Lourdes Segade
Building on Durbar Square in Bakhtapur.
SEL0149267 © Lourdes Segade
Full bus in a traffic jam in Bodnath area, Kathmandu.
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Street life in Bakhtapur.
SEL0149265 © Lourdes Segade
Street life in Bakhtapur
SEL0149264 © Lourdes Segade
Punakha Tsechu is a festival held in Punakha Dzong (fortress-monastery) during the celebrations of Losar, the Tibetan New Year. The monks dress as animals, wearing masks, to pray for prosperity and goodness for the coming year. Many different dances represent different sets of desirable circumstances for the New Year.
SEL0149263 © Lourdes Segade
Locals from the Tashi Palkhiel Tibetan Refugee Settlement at the Gutor festival celebrated in Janghup Choling monastery, a Tibetan celebration to exorcise and banish bad luck for the New Year.
SEL0149262 © Lourdes Segade
Young monks watch a Punakha Tsechu performance. Punakha Tsechu is a festival held in Punakha Dzong (fortress-monastery) during the celebrations of Losar, the Tibetan New Year. The monks dress as animals, wearing masks, to pray for prosperity and goodness for the coming year. Many different dances represent different sets of desirable circumstances for the New Year. Some poor families take their children to dzongs and monasteries in order to make sure that they are provided with a good education, health care and healthy meals.
SEL0149261 © Lourdes Segade
Ceremony prior to cremation in the Pashupatinath Centre, with the Bagmati River crossing the square. The Bagmati is the largest river of the Kathmandu Valley, and it is considered as sacred as the Ganges or the Benares rivers. The waters of the Bagmati are very polluted due to the waste products introduced into the river, mainly carpets dyes.
SEL0149260 © Lourdes Segade
Bedtime in one of the rooms in MAITI Nepal house in Kathmandu. MAITI is an NGO that rescues girls and their children from prostitution in Indian brothels.
SEL0149259 © Lourdes Segade
Locals from the Tashi Palkhiel Tibetan Refugee Settlement as they bow down to the Lama performing at the Gutor festival celebrated in Janghup Choling monastery. Gutor is a Tibetan celebration to exorcise and banish all bad luck for the New Year.
SEL0149258 © Lourdes Segade
A butter lamps and incense seller in Bodnath stupa during a blackout in Kathmandu. The Nepali government hasn't paid some of its bills for a long time and now shortage of electricity, gas, petrol and gasoil are daily matters to solve for the inhabitants of the country
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Lama Luhndup, abbot of the monastery, in the gompa (sacred ceremony room) of the Kopan Buddhist monastery in Kathmandu. Some poor families all over Asia take their children to monasteries so that they can receive an education, health care and a healthy diet.
SEL0149256 © Lourdes Segade
Street life near a water tank in Bakhtapur.
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Gas Station in Wangdue Phodrang.
SEL0149247 © Lourdes Segade
Locals at Tashi Palkhiel Tibetan Refugee Settlement.
SEL0149254 © Lourdes Segade
On the way up to the Sarangkot viewpoint, from where it is said that the best sunset in the Himalaya can be seen.
SEL0149253 © Lourdes Segade
A monk in Timphu Dzong (fortress-monastery).
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The four kings of Bhutan.
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Shadows at the entrance to the goempa (sacred room where buddha and other gurus images and statues are placed), in Timphu Dzong (fortress-monastery)
SEL0149250 © Lourdes Segade
Monks at a religious ceremony in the Swoyambunath buddhist stupa in Kathmandu. Poor families from all over Asia take their children to monasteries so that they can receive education, health care and healthy meals.
SEL0149248 © Lourdes Segade
The ascent to Takshang monastery (Tiger's Nest, on the right). Takshang is believed to be the place where Guru Rimpoche (who introduced Buddhism to the Himalayas) had his retreat.
SEL0149249 © Lourdes Segade
Young monk Sacha Dendup (14 years old) outside Nalanda Monastery, where he has lived for the last two years. Poor people often take their children to Buddhist monasteries, where they are given a good education, health care and healthy meals.
SEL0149245 © Lourdes Segade
Thangka hanging on a wall in the private shrine of a home in Timphu. Thangkas are sacred paintings used for meditation
SEL0149244 © Lourdes Segade
Two young monks as they cross the temporary bamboo and wood bridge that leads from the Dzong (fortress-monastery) to Punakha village on the other side of the river. The old bridge was devastated during floods in 1994. Punakha Dzong (right). In the education of the very young, tradition and religion feature strongly.
SEL0149246 © Lourdes Segade
Sereh returns home from the Sarangkot viewpoint, at an altitude of 1592 metres. He has three sons and a daughter and works as a trekking porter during the high season, from October to December. When there is no work he produces hash and sells it in small amounts.
SEL0149243 © Lourdes Segade