Photo of the Day

a Newari living goddess putting on makeup, Nepal
May 21, 2015

Goddess Dressing

In Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley, young Newari girls called kumaris are worshipped as living goddesses. Like other kumaris, Dangol, pictured here, wears special makeup for festivals. But it’s more than makeup that changes on these occasions. Former kumaris have described feeling bigger and stronger and said that heat radiates from their foreheads.

See more pictures from the June 2015 feature story "Meet Nepal's Living Goddesses."

Photograph by Stephanie Sinclair, National Geographic

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