Protest against fuel price hike in Nepal

epa10023972 Activists from the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) - CPN (UML) - scuffle with police during a protest against the government's decision to increase the prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene, currently at an all-time high, in Kathmandu, Nepal, 20 June 2022. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Free cataract surgery for residents in remote Nepalese Manang District

epa10001446 A dense cataract is seen in the right eye of Ujeli Gurung, 72, during an eye screening camp ahead of cataract surgery at the Thanchwok village in the Manang District, some 270 kilometers from the capital Kathmandu, Nepal, 23 May 2022 (issued 08 June 2022). Mainly the elder people of Manang, a district that borders Tibet, China, are suffering from either single or double cataract blindness, which is a dense, cloudy area that forms in the lens of the eye causing impaired eyesight. Traveling for up to ten days from their remote homes the cataract patients come to the temporary operation theater. One after the other they are given anesthesia before Dr. Ruit, who established the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Nepal in 1994, makes two tiny cuts in the eye, removes a cloudy jelly-like lens, and replaces it with one of the intraocular lenses. The joy of the patients, who soon after pack and prepare to return to their homes, is the happy awarding and inspiration for Dr. Ruit. 'Sometimes when a mother sees her child for the first time after surgery, these are very powerful inspirations, and what else do you want in your life, says Dr. Ruit while sitting happily and seeing his patients depart. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA ATTENTION: This Image is part of a PHOTO SET

Stars over Mount Machapuchre in Nepal

epaselect epa08902052 A picture made with a slow shutter technique shows stars trailing over Mt. Machapuchre (Mt. Fish Tail in English), in Pokhara, Nepal, 21 December 2020 (issued 24 December 2020). EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Last sunset of Nepali new year in Nepal

epa09132726 People gather to watch the last sun sets of the year 2077 of the Nepali calendar at single tree hill in Kathmandu, Nepal, 13 April 2021. The Nepalese are celebrating Nepali New Year 2078 which will begin on 14 April 2021 with various function and festival activities amid the risk of coronavirus covid-19 diseases. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Shamanism in Nepal

epa08012956 (05/29) A shaman plays the drum while performing rituals in Kathmandu, Nepal, 28 March 2019. Shamans, or 'Jhakri', as they are known in Nepal, are healers who provide spiritual and physical healing and cleansing. Using a combination of Hindu worship, mantras, meditation and traditional herbal remedies, the shamans are believed to help people who have been unable to find a cure through modern medicine or who have become possessed by spirits. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA ATTENTION: For the full PHOTO ESSAY text please see Advisory Notice epa08072951

Maha Shivratri festival celebrations in Nepal

epaselect epa09792959 A Sadhu, Hindu holy person, smokes marijuana from a clay pipe during the Maha Shivaratri festival at the Pashupati Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, 01 March 2022. The Maha Shivratri festival, which is celebrated on 01 March, sees Hindu devotees, from across the country and neighboring India, gather to celebrate the birthday of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of creation and destruction, by offering special prayers and fasting. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Tennis Australian Open 2018

epa06453089 Photo taken through a net showing Rafael Nadal of Spain in action during his third round match against Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 19 January 2018. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Madhav Narayan festival in Bhaktapur

epa09724515 Nepalese Hindu devotees roll on the ground before a mass holy bath in the Hanumante River during the month-long Madhav Narayan festival in Bhaktapur, Nepal, 03 February 2022. The Madhav Narayan festival is devoted to religious fasting, holy bathing, and the study of the Swasthani book, a chapter or story of which is read each evening by priests or heads of households to the gathered family. Thousands of married women and dozens of male devotees conclude their month-long fast for a better life and peace in the country at various temples. According to the Swasthani book, whoever takes the month-long Swasthani fast will have all their sins forgiven, and they will not experience bad days during their life. The festival is dedicated to Lord Shiva, the god of creation and destruction. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Lord Krishna's birth anniversary celebrations

epa03351981 A Nepalese little girl wearing a traditional attire receives gifts as she attends a Kumari Puja mass worship to mark Lord Krishna's birth anniversary, in the village of Sankhu, north east of Kathmandu, Nepal, 09 August 2012. A total of 144 girls from across the country under the age of nine gathered for the mass worship, believing in protection from evil and good luck. The event was organized by the Bhagwati women group of Sankhu village. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Lord Krishna's birth anniversary celebrations

epa03351984 A Nepalese little girl wearing a traditional attire is carried by her mother after attending a Kumari Puja mass worship to mark Lord Krishna's birth anniversary, in the village of Sankhu, north east of Kathmandu, Nepal, 09 August 2012. A total of 144 girls from across the country under the age of nine gathered for the mass worship, believing in protection from evil and good luck. The event was organized by the Bhagwati women group of Sankhu village. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Torch rally in Kathmandu

epa03340342 Nepalese police and protesters confront each other during a torch rally in Kathmandu, Nepal, 04 August 2012. Hundreds of activists from the Nepal youth front, a student organization of CPN-UML party, staged a torch protest demanding prime minster Baburam Bhattrai's resignation accusing the premier for dissolving the constituent assembly without announcing a new constitution for Nepal. Nepal’s constituent assembly was dissolved on 28 May 2012. The Youth front called partial general strike on 05 and 06 August 2012. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Ramadan at Islamic boys school in Kathmandu

epa03331256 (23/25) Muslim schoolboy Mohamad Udin Sekh, aged 12, from Janakpur village in eastern Nepal, washes his face before morning prayer during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan at the Jamia school in Kathmandu, Nepal, 25 July 2012. Around 30 students from within the country as well as from neighboring India are accommodated at the Islamic Jamia Gaushia Ahsanual Barkat boys' school, many of them coming from poor families. The fasting month of Ramadan is a testing time for the students who have to find the concentration to study on an empty stomach because they have to refrain from consuming food, drinking water and smoking. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA PLEASE REFER TO ADVISORY NOTICE (epa03331233) FOR FULL FEATURE TEXT

Ramadan at Islamic boys school in Kathmandu

epa03331244 (10/25) A view of a dish of 'aftari' (or iftar), the evening meal with fruits, vegetables and sweets, as Muslim schoolboys wait to break their daily fasting routine during Ramadan at the Jamia school in Kathmandu, Nepal, 21 July 2012. Around 30 students from within the country as well as from neighboring India are accommodated at the Islamic Jamia Gaushia Ahsanual Barkat boys' school, many of them coming from poor families. The fasting month of Ramadan is a testing time for the students who have to find the concentration to study on an empty stomach because they have to refrain from consuming food, drinking water and smoking. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA PLEASE REFER TO ADVISORY NOTICE (epa03331233) FOR FULL FEATURE TEXT

Ramadan at Islamic boys school in Kathmandu

epa03331254 (21/25) Muslim schoolboy Mohamad Basir Alam, aged 11, from Gorkha village in northern Nepal, takes a shower before morning prayer during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan at the Jamia school in Kathmandu, Nepal, 27 July 2012. Around 30 students from within the country as well as from neighboring India are accommodated at the Islamic Jamia Gaushia Ahsanual Barkat boys' school, many of them coming from poor families. The fasting month of Ramadan is a testing time for the students who have to find the concentration to study on an empty stomach because they have to refrain from consuming food, drinking water and smoking. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA PLEASE REFER TO ADVISORY NOTICE (epa03331233) FOR FULL FEATURE TEXT

Ramadan at Islamic boys school in Kathmandu

epa03331241 (07/25) A group of Nepalese Muslim schoolboys play on a courtyard of the Jamia school during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, in Kathmandu, Nepal, 27 July 2012. Around 30 students from within the country as well as from neighboring India are accommodated at the Islamic Jamia Gaushia Ahsanual Barkat boys' school, many of them coming from poor families. The fasting month of Ramadan is a testing time for the students who have to find the concentration to study on an empty stomach because they have to refrain from consuming food, drinking water and smoking. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA PLEASE REFER TO ADVISORY NOTICE (epa03331233) FOR FULL FEATURE TEXT

Ramadan at Islamic boys school in Kathmandu

epa03331234 (01/25) Muslim schoolboy Mohamad Udin Sekh, aged 12, from Janakpur village in eastern Nepal, looks out of the window during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan at the Jamia school in Kathmandu, Nepal, 25 July 2012. Around 30 students from within the country as well as from neighboring India are accommodated at the Islamic Jamia Gaushia Ahsanual Barkat boys' school, many of them coming from poor families. The fasting month of Ramadan is a testing time for the students who have to find the concentration to study on an empty stomach because they have to refrain from consuming food, drinking water and smoking. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA PLEASE REFER TO ADVISORY NOTICE (epa03331233) FOR FULL FEATURE TEXT

Christmas function at a Kindergarten in Kathmandu

epa03041607 Nepalese Children wearing Santa Claus attire wait for the Christmas function at a 'Little kingdom' Kindergarten in Kathmandu, Nepal, 23 December 2011. Nepalese government officially started to celebrate Christmas by giving national holidays after the country turned in to Republic in May 2008. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Ramadan in Nepal

epa03316997 A Nepalese Muslim girl smiles as she plays at a local community school during the first week of the fasting month of Ramadhan in Kathmandu, Nepal, 25 July 2012. In Nepal, from eight years on, Muslim girls are supposed to take Roza (fast) which means to refrain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn to dusk, reports state. According to the school management, the numbers of students are decreasing due to the ongoing religious fasting month. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Anti government protests in Nepal

epa03269762 Nepalese riot police charge baton towards student activists during an anti government torch rally in Kathmandu, Nepal, 17 June 2012. Various student organizations affiliated with opposition parties announced anti government protests demanding Prime Minister Baburam Bhattrai's resignation. Nepal plunged into a governing crisis on 28 May after the failure to write a new constitution ended in a call for new elections to try again later in the year. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Prince Haakon visits AIDS charity

epa03010564 Two transgender members of Cruiseaids, an NGO for HIV/AIDS of LGBT- Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender, wait to welcome Crown Prince of Norway Haakon Magnus (unseen) at head office of Cruiseaids in Kathmandu, Nepal, 21 November 2011. Crown Prince Haakon is visiting Nepal as a UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) goodwill Ambassador on a four-day official trip. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Living Goddess Festival

epa03279464 Nepal's Kumari Samita Bajracharya, aged 10, has her make-up done by her mother Purna Shova Bajracharya at Kumari Ghar, Patan, Nepal, 24 June 2012, prior to taking part in a Red Chariot festival procession. The festival is considered to bring rain, good harvest, prosperity and good luck and is mainly celebrated among farmers. A Kumari, or Kumari Devi, is a 'living goddess.' The word literally means virgin in Nepali. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

traditional brolly

epa03276327 A Nepalese farmer takes to wearing a “ghoom” or ghum as he trudges home amid a monsoon downpour in Jitpur village, some 40 kilometres west of Kathmandu 22 June 2012. The ghoom is a traditional Nepalese umbrella and takes the form of a folded mat used by rice workers. The monsoon season began on 16 June 2012, and is quickly living up to its reputation. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Landless evicted

epa03210278 A landless girl clings to her mother and cries while police arrest them during a clash in Kathmandu, Nepal, 08 May 2012. The Nepal government has started to vacate landless squatters who have been residing in various places in Kathmandu. Riot police arrested more than 20 landless people who tried to stop the vacation process and dozens were injured. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

23rd birthday of 11th Panchen Lama

epa03195097 An exiled Tibetan holds a portrait of spiritual leader Dalai Lama after conducting special prayer ceremony to mark the 23rd birthday of 11th Panchen Lama at Tibetan welfare center in Kathmandu, Nepal, 25 April 2012. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was born in Tibet on 25 April 1989. He was recognized reincarnation of Panchen Lama by Dalai Lama in 1995, the second highest ranking Lama of Tibet. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Nepalese Muslim woman holding prayer during Ramadan

epa02853225 A Nepalese Muslim woman holds prayer on the third day of the Holy month of Ramadan at her private residence in Kathmandu, Nepal, 03 August 2011. Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and sexual relations from dusk to dawn during Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Holi festival

epa03132593 Nepalese college student smear vermillion powder on each other during the last day of college in Kathmandu, Nepal, 05 March 2012. All of Nepal’s schools will shut down for 06 March to 07 March 2012 for the color festival Holi.The Holi festival is celebrated all over the country to mark the arrival of spring season which falls on 07 March. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Fire at Kalimati vegetable Market in Kathmandu

epa03131471 A Nepalese armed police member inhales oxygen while searching bodies inside the market after the fire came in a control at Kalimati vegetable Market in Kathmandu, Nepal, 04 March 2012. Six people were killed and more than half dozen were injured in fire at Kathmandu's biggest vegetable and fruit market owned by Kathmandu municipality. The fire was apparently caused by a short circuit which engulfed the entire market late 03 March 2012. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Spider Web

A Spider spins a web early in the morning in a garden in Kathmandu

Mount Everest

Mount Everest

butterfly in Nepal

A butterfly sits on a flower in a garden in Dhulikhel

Ostrich farming

African ostriches are seen at an ostrich farm in Rupandehi

Rice plantation in Nepal ahead of Paddy Day

An aerial view of a paddy field

Digging a Water Well

A Labourer smokes after finishing digging a well for a water source

Rice plantation in Nepal ahead of Paddy Day

epa02794935 An aerial view of a paddy field prepared for rice plantation in the monsoon season in Kavre district, east of Kathmandu, Nepal, 25 June 2011. Nepal will be celebrating National Paddy Day on 29 June 2011. On this day, known as Asar Pandra, farmers begin the annual rice planting season and mark the day with various festivities such as preparing rice meals with muddy water, mud being a symbol for a prosperous season. The agricultural sector contributes about 60 per cent to Nepal's gross domestic product. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Digging a Water Well

epa02811317 (07/09) Nepalese laborer Rishi Dev Yadav, aged 28, smokes after finishing digging a well for a water source in Kathmandu, Nepal, 15 June 2011. Rishi Dev Yadav, a migrant worker from Inarwa district in eastern Nepal had to leave his wife and two sons behind in search for work opportunities. The last three years he has been digging wells in the capital of Kathmandu. Rishi receives a wage of 2,500 Nepalese rupees (35 USD) for each well which is hardly enough to survive. According to Rishi, he is sometimes required to go underground at depths of more than 50 feet (about 15 m) to get to the water which may result in accidents. Currently there are hundreds of well digging laborers working in Kathmandu Valley despite the risks involved. The government has banned digging as an illegal activity but there are still people who undertake the jobs in the hopes of assuring a livelihood. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA ***PLEASE REFER TO THE ADVISORY NOTICE (epa02811310) FOR COMPLETE FEATURE TEXT***

Bel Bibah ritual in Kathmandu, Nepal

epa03090349 A Nepali ethnic Newar girl looks on as she attends the ritual 'Bel Bibah' in Kathmandu, Nepal, 03 February 2012. More than 30 girls from Newar community, Kathmandu base ethnic group, less than nine years old wearing bridal dresses attended their wedding with 'Bel' or holy fruit. This ritual or wedding is a unique tradition in Newar community of marrying their girl child to the bel fruit before the girl reaches puberty, ensuring that the girl acquires active and healthy reproductive powers. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Patan City Choses New Living Goddess

epa02441655 YEARENDER 2010 OCTOBER Nepal's newly appointed nine-year-old living goddess of Patan city, Samita Bajracharya, at Kumari Ghar, the private residence of the living goddess, in Patan city, Nepal, 20 October 2010. A Kumari is a 'living goddess'. The word literally means virgin in Nepali. Bajracharya was chosen as new Kumari of Patan city as former Kumari Chanira Bajracharya is reaching puberty which means she considered ritually unclean. Young Buddhist girls from Kathmandu's Newar community chosen as 'living goddesses' are considered to be incarnations of the Hindu goddess of power, Kali. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Kumari Puja mass worship in Kathmandu

epa02347859 A Nepalese girl wearing a traditional attire bows to an idol during a Kumari Puja mass worship on Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Nepal, 21 September 2010. A total of 504 girls under nine years from across the country gathered for the mass worship. Nepal's first Kumari, or living goddess, Dil Kumari Shakya, aged 90, also attended the event whereas former King Gyanedra Shah's participation as guest of honor has been canceled apparently due to security reasons. The event was organized by the World Youth Hindu Federation. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

festival scene

epa03053894 Nepalese Hindu devotees silhouettec as they worship at Shalinadi River, a sacred place, during the Madhav Narayan festival in Sankhu, an ancient village of near Kathmandu, Nepal, 09 January 2012. The Madhav Narayan festival, also known as Swasthani Purnima, -full moon day, as this full moon day is called, marks the first day of a month devoted to religious fasting, holy bathing and the study of the Swasthani book, a chapter or story of which is read each evening by priests or householders to the gathered family. Total 230 married and unmarried women including dozens of male devotees started their month-long fast for better life and peace in the country at temple premises. Unmarried women take the fast to get a good husband and married women for their families' prosperity. The festival is dedicated to Lord Shiva, the god of creation and destruction. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Covid-19 vaccination at a monastery on the outskirt of Kathmandu

epa09684687 Nepalese health worker Babita Khanal (C) flashes the V-sign as she takes group photo with monk children after the vaccination drive at Monastery in Dakshinkali municipality, on the outskirt of Kathmandu, Nepal, 14 January 2022. The government of Nepal started vaccination drive Buddhist Monastery as part of the door-to-door vaccination program after the recent spike of Omicron variant. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA ATTENTION: This Image is part of a PHOTO SET

Fog hangs over capital Kathmandu

Fog hangs over capital Kathmandu as Mount Lakpa Dorje

Buddha's birthday anniversary marked in Kathmandu

epa02175570 The Syambhu temple, a holy place for Buddhist pilgrims in Kathmandu, is illuminated with lamp lights during a light event ceremony to mark the 2,554th anniversary of Buddha's birthday, in Kathmandu, Nepal, 27 May 2010. Thousands of pilgrims including Hindus lit the Buddhist temple to mark Buddha's birthday and to pray for peace and stability in the country. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Nepalese Maoist activists stage torch protest rally in Kathmandu

epa02140225 Nepalese Maoist activists stage torch protest rally in Kathmandu, Nepal. 02 May 2010. Nepal's opposition Maoist party has announced an indefinite nationwide general strike where thousands of Maoists took the streets of Nepal's capital Kathmandu threatening new instability in the country. The Maoist party, which has the largest number of seats in parliament, is demanding the ruling coalition be replaced by a new, Maoist-led administration. But, Nepals Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has refused to step down during his television address to the Nation on 01 May. The shutdown hit schools, businesses and government offices in Nepal. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Women's Day study

epa02070379 Rallies marking the occasion are being staged all around the world by political groups as well as non governmental organizations. A study of elderly Nepalese women in Kathmandu, Nepal, 08 March 2010 on the occasion of the 100th International women’s Day.

Festival of colours in Kathmandu

epa02059306 A Nepalese youth swims in coloured pool during the celebration of Holi, the festival of colours in Kathmandu, Nepal, 28 February 2010. The tradition of Holi, also known as Festival of Colours, heralds the beginning of spring and is celebrated all over Nepal and neighboring country India. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Wildlife tourism in Nepal

epa09558754 A one horned rhino walks freely at the street of the Sauraha, one of the tourist destinations near Chitwan National Park, Chitwan, Nepal, 30 October 2021 (issued 02 November 2021). One horned rhinos have been spotted in human settlement areas in last couple of years, said Ramji Khatiwada, a local of Sauraha. Most rhino comes to the area about 3 to 4 pm to feed on grass and vegetables of local farmers and return towards national park in an early morning, said, Khatiwada. However, a local newspaper reported that rhino have been ventured outside the national park because the national park is losing the favorite grassland and wetland of rhinos due to the climate change. According to the National rhino counting 2021 result, Nepal's rhino population has reached 752. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA