Nepal, June 16 -- Through the centuries, Kathmandu Valley residents have set aside a day just before the monsoon when the groundwater table is at its lowest to clean their community wells, ponds, public water spouts, fountains and irrigation canals.
The Sithi Nakha festival of the Valley's Newa people was marked on Wednesday, even as the city has been in Covid-19 lockdown for the past six weeks. The festival has pre-Hindu and pre-Buddhist animist antecedents but has relevance right to the present day.
Water is not just as essential utility but also considered a divide element and Sithi Nakhaon 16 June this year, is a celebration of the baby rain god Kumar on his sixth day of birth.
This corresponds with an ancient custom where birthday...