This is the eighth post in a series of photos entitled Faces and Places. I am using the tag #facesandplaces in all the posts in this series, and invite you to use this same tag to share your portraits and experiences of various cultures around the world.
These photos were taken during my 2-month trip to Nepal, in May and June of last year, some in the children's home and school where I worked to continue developing a Montessori program, some simply in the streets of Kathmandu where there is an abundance of life and compelling moments to capture. I hope you enjoy these portraits:
Camera: CANON EOS 500D
Location: Kathmandu valley, Nepal
Shop lady selling scarves and candles at Pashupatinath Temple.
Built in the 5th century, this temple is one of the four most important religious sites in Asia for devotees of Shiva, and stretches on both sides of the Bagmati River, considered holy by Hindus.
They say that every year, hundreds of elderly followers end up here to find shelter for the last weeks of their lives. Once death occurs, they are cremated on the banks of the river and travel their final journey through the waters of the sacred Bagmati river. Regardless of any wrongdoings which could have altered their karma, it is thought that those who die in Pashupatinath Temple are reincarnated as humans.
Open-air cremations on funeral pyres can be observed from afar by tourists and non-Hindus alike. Word of warning: this is not for the faint of heart. Death being such a taboo in many of our "western" cultures, witnessing such ceremonies can leave you feeling quite perturbed. At least, that's how I felt.
Camera: CANON EOS 500D
Location: Kathmandu, Nepal
Nepali man smiling for the camera in Bhaktapur, wearing a traditional Nepali hat called the Dhaka Topi
 Monochrome M A C A U |  Nepali school girl |
|---|---|
) Bhaktapur lady |  Nepal earthquake 2015 |
Sylvia
“Learning is not a race for information, it is a walk of discovery” - Jane Healy