Loading...
Done
Nepalese women performs ritual as they take a holy bath in the Bagmati River, during the Rishi Panchami festival, in Kathmandu, Nepal September 18, 2015. Rishi Panchami is observed on the last day of Teej when women worship Sapta Rishi (Seven Saints) to ask for forgiveness for sins committed during their menstrual periods throughout the year. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

Nepalese women performs ritual as they take a holy bath in the Bagmati River, during the Rishi Panchami festival, in Kathmandu, Nepal September 18, 2015. Rishi Panchami is observed on the last day of Teej when women worship Sapta Rishi (Seven Saints) to ask for forgiveness for sins committed during their menstrual periods throughout the year. The Hindu religion considers menstruation as a representation of impurity and women are prohibited from taking part in religious practices during their monthly menstruations. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)



Nepalese women offer prayers along the bank of the Bagmati River, during the Rishi Panchami festival, in Kathmandu, Nepal September 18, 2015. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

Nepalese women offer prayers along the bank of the Bagmati River, during the Rishi Panchami festival, in Kathmandu, Nepal September 18, 2015. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)



A woman lashes herself with the leaves of the Aghada plant at the Bagmati River, during the Rishi Panchami festival, in Kathmandu, Nepal September 18, 2015. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A woman lashes herself with the leaves of the Aghada plant at the Bagmati River, during the Rishi Panchami festival, in Kathmandu, Nepal September 18, 2015. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)



A woman pours water, which is passed through a basket filled with the leaves of the Aghada plant, onto her friend at Bagmati River while celebrating the Rishi Panchami festival in Kathmandu, Nepal September 18, 2015. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A woman pours water, which is passed through a basket filled with the leaves of the Aghada plant, onto her friend at Bagmati River while celebrating the Rishi Panchami festival in Kathmandu, Nepal September 18, 2015. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)



Nepalese women take a traditional holy purifying bath in the Bagmati River as they mark the Rishi Panchami festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, 18 September 2015. During the Rishi Panchami festival Nepalese women worship Sapta Rishi (seven saints) asking forgiveness for their sexual and religious sins committed during their monthly bleeding periods throughout the year. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA)

Nepalese women take a traditional holy purifying bath in the Bagmati River as they mark the Rishi Panchami festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, 18 September 2015. During the Rishi Panchami festival Nepalese women worship Sapta Rishi (seven saints) asking forgiveness for their sexual and religious sins committed during their monthly bleeding periods throughout the year. In the Hindu religion, menstruation is taken as a symbol of impurity and women are not thought to take part in religious practices and in sexual activities during their periods. Thus, it is believed that Rishi Panchami is the occasion to wash off one's impurity for the whole year. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA)



A Nepalese woman waits for her turn to take a traditional holy purifying bath during the Rishi Panchami festival on the bank of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, 18 September 2015. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA)

A Nepalese woman waits for her turn to take a traditional holy purifying bath during the Rishi Panchami festival on the bank of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, Nepal, 18 September 2015. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA)



Nepalese Hindu women take a ritual bath in the Bagmati River during the Rishi Panchami festival in Kathmandu on September 18, 2015. Rishi Panchami marks the end of the three-day long Teej festival, in which married women fast and pray for the good health of their husbands to Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, while unmarried women wish for handsome husbands and happy conjugal lives. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

Nepalese Hindu women take a ritual bath in the Bagmati River during the Rishi Panchami festival in Kathmandu on September 18, 2015. Rishi Panchami marks the end of the three-day long Teej festival, in which married women fast and pray for the good health of their husbands to Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, while unmarried women wish for handsome husbands and happy conjugal lives. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)
21 Sep 2015 12:23:00