Photo Essay: Nepali Village Life - Youth Journalism International

Shantak Sharki in traditional dress. (Nirajan Kathayat/YJI)

Vijay Kathayat purifies barley in the field before it is put in storage. (Nirajan Kathayat/YJI)

Surya Kathayat, a young man from the village, is uneducated. He earns his living by working hard in the fields. (Nirajan Kathayat/YJI)

Anita Kathayat, who is seven years old, dances at her brother’s wedding. (Nirajan Kathayat/YJI)

Basanti Kathayat is shy about being photographed. (Nirajan Kathayat/YJI)

Thirteen-year-old Shanti Kathayat wears a special dress called a sari during Teej, a festival when unmarried Hindu women worship Lord Shiva to get a good husband while married women worship for the good health of their husband and family. (Nirajan Kathayat/YJI)

Dhana Laxmi Kathayat wearing her traditional clothes. She is 85. (Nirajan Kathayat/YJI)

Women of Dolpa play Deusi, a special type of dance performed during the great Hindu festival of Tihar. (Nirajan Kathayat/YJI)

Phoksundo Lake, the deepest in Nepal, is in Dolpa. (Nirajan Kathayat/YJI)

villagers are getting ready to pick the supposedly medicinal fungus yarsagumba, or cordyceps. Harvesting and selling this expensive plant is a primary source of income for people in Dolpa. (Nirajan Kathayat/YJI)