Video: The last of the tharu: mysterious tattoos on women from an endangered tribe in Nepal
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Preserving the memory of disappearing civilizations is the noble mission of modern travel photographers. Omar Reda has already traveled half the world, and in his portfolio you can find many pictures of peoples that practically do not interact with the civilized world, keep ancient customs and traditions and … are gradually dying out. Tharu - a tribe from the foothills of the Himalayas, local women attracted the attention of Omar unusual tattoos, which cover their arms and legs.
Omar Reda is a photographer from Lebanon. By education, he is a designer, since 2005 he has been building a career in the largest international companies, but in addition to work, he does not forget about his hobby - travel to the lost corners of the planet. Communication with representatives of the Tharu tribe in Nepal was an interesting experience for Omar, most of all he was struck by the tattoos that "adorn" the limbs of older women. The tribe itself, which in 2011 numbered 1.7 million people, lives in the forests of the Himalayas, leads a lifestyle closed from the outside world, is engaged in agriculture and hunting.
Omar did not fail to ask local women for what purpose they tattooed in their youth. Despite the fact that many tribes have similar customs, the stories of the three Tharu women surprised him.
The first woman explained to Omar that tharu girls, who were reputed to be beautiful, were taken into sexual slavery in the palace to the royal family. One day, members of the royal family came for a summer vacation to Chitwan, a national park on the territory of which the thara live, then the most beautiful girls were taken into slavery. In order to somehow protect themselves from further encroachments, the rest of the tribe began to apply tattoos to their arms and legs, disfiguring their bodies.
According to the second version, tattooing served as a kind of initiation rite for girls. Otherwise, she was simply not considered a full member of society, they did not talk to "pure" girls, they were forbidden to marry, everything that such a girl touched should be destroyed. To socialize, girls had to cover their bodies with tattoos.
Omar heard another version. One of the women said that the tattoos did not disfigure the bodies, but, on the contrary, made them even more attractive. She assured the photographer that the soul of a woman with tattoos on her body goes to heaven after death.
Which of these versions is true is hard to say. It is likely that there is some truth in each of them.
In addition to Nepal, Omar Reda has already visited Turkey, Tanzania, India and other countries. His photographs have appeared on the covers of such publications as National Geographic, Daily Mail, Buzzfeed and others.
They look even more intimidating tattoos on the face of women of the tribe in Myanmar … They also have a very good reason to voluntarily mutilate their bodies …
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