Prince Harry Welcomed To Nepal By Five Virgins In Luck And Purity Ceremony

Five unmarried women welcome Prince with garland in ancient Kathmandu square where several buildings were brought down by powerful earthquake

Prince Harry has been given a traditional VIP welcome to Nepal as five young virgins gave him flowers and a garland to signify luck and purity.
The Panchakanya - Sanskrit for five unmarried women, or five virgins - welcomed the Prince to the ancient Patan Durbar Square in heart of the capital Kathmandu.
Several temples and other buildings in the square were damaged or brought down by the earthquake that claimed 9,000 lives last April, and many buildings are still supported by wooden props.

When the Prince arrived in the square, a Unesco World Heritage Site, he walked up to the group of five young women - a lucky number in Nepalese culture - with their status as virgins representing purity.
He was given flowers by Ujala Maharjan, 18, Alisha Awale, 18, Reju Maharjan, 19, and Nafisa Dangol, 17, before Maiya Maharjan, 25, put a garland or orange flowers around his neck.
He accepted their gifts with a smile and afterwards Miss Awale said: "I've seen him before on television, I was really excited about meeting him and was wondering what he would be like.
"We freaked out when he was in front of us but it was a really happy moment. We welcome him with open hearts to Nepal and hope he enjoys his visit."

From there the Prince went inside the Royal Palace and several surrounding temples to see ongoing restoration work which is being partly funded by the British Embassy.
His next stop was the Golden Temple, one of Kathmandu's holiest sites, which dates from 1409 and stands on the site of a 12th century Buddhist monastery.
The Prince made a traditional offering of a lit candle to a statue of Buddha when he visited one of Kathmandu's holiest sites.
He lit a large candle, or lamp, in a metal cup and handed it to a priest guarding the icon at the 600-year-old Golden Temple. The offering of a burning lamp symbolises the impermanence of life.
The Prince was greeted on arrival at the temple by its chief abbott, 94-year-old Turtha Raj Shakya, who gave him a gift of an orange holy scarf decorated with eight auspicious symbols of Buddhism.
Already wearing a garland of orange flowers given to him earlier, the Prince said: "Orange is the colour of the day!"

He was then taken into the tiny main courtyard of the temple, about half the size of a tennis court, in which stands a large pagoda-style shrine as well as the shrine of the Buddha. They are covered in gold leaf, giving the temple its name.
As the Prince stooped through a low doorway to enter the courtyard, he looked around him and said "Wow".
Local conservationist Anil Chitraker showed him around the building, explaining the significance of prayer wheels, bronze statues of monkeys and elephants that relate to stories told by the Buddha, and the importance of the temple itself, which serves as a religious and community hub for 5,000 people.
At one point the Prince was distracted by a pigeon perched on the lower roof of the pagoda, which stared intently at him.
"It's looking at my scarf," he said. Talking to the pigeon, he added: "It's the same colour as your eyes."
After lighting the lamp, the Prince gave it to Sujan Shakya, 32, one of two priests guarding the shrine of the Buddha. The chief priest, or baphaca, in the temple is 10-year-old Sumit Shakya, who is serving one month as guardian of the shrine. Tradition dictates that the job must always be done by a boy aged under 12, who must not leave the temple for the month that he is in charge.

Prince Harry visits Kathmandu's historic Patan Durbar Square on day two of his tour of Nepal (Tim Rooke / REX / Shutterstock)
The temple was built in 1409 on the site of a 12th century Buddhist monastery, and only survived last year's earthquake because of just-completed work to replace all of its rotting wooden beams.
After leaving the temple the Prince was taken into a public square behind it, where he met some of the 800 people who were given food and shelter by the temple's worshippers after their homes were destroyed by the earthquake.
He told one group: "Community spirit all over the world is forgotten. People are on their phones and so on, but when an earthquake happens it shows that the community spirit is still there. "
Mr Chitraker said of the lamp-lighting ceremony: "In the Buddhist tradition, all this knowledge needs to spread, so when you light one lamp with the other lamp it symbolises how knowledge and wisdom spreads around the world.
"The butter that is being used to fuel the lamp ultimately runs out so it also symbolises the impermanence of life."

Large crowds gathered in Patan Durbar Square to try and get a glimpse of Prince Harry (Pratap Thapa / Barcroft India)
He added: "The earthquake was devastating, so between the Palace he has seen and the Golden Temple, it shows how a 2,600-year-old institution established by Buddha comes to life when there is a disaster.
"The people pooled their food, they pooled their fuel, they cooked for 800 people at the same time and they took care of their houses. Five days after the earthquake some people were already moving back into their houses.

"Nepali communities are very well organised and can respond to challenges such as the one we've just had."
Harry is on a five-day visit to Nepal which he hopes will "shine a light" on the country as it rebuilds after the earthquake.
His tour of Durbar Square in Kathmandu's Patan district gave the Prince the chance to see the restoration work already begun on the monuments and he even tried his hand at wood carving.
When he joined some craftsmen quietly fashioning pieces of wood he looked at their handiwork and said: "I did carving at school years ago but nothing like this."
Sitting on the floor with the men, Harry watched closely as he was shown what to do but joked about his lack of skill: "I can not do it, not many people can. I am showing how hard it is to do this - wow. "

Prince Harry tried his hand at wood carving (i-Images Picture Agency)
When someone told him how much at ease he appeared on the ground, he quipped: "Ten years in the Army, you learn to sit anywhere."
Harry was left in awe of the magnificent Hanuman Dhoka Palace complex, named in honour of the monkey god, Hanuman, with its impressive galleried courtyards, featuring beautiful carvings.
Much of the monument was built by King Pratap Malla in the 17th century but a 1934 earthquake which struck Nepal destroyed a large amount of the structure.
In Patan Durbar Square, the Prince's first stop was the magnificent Patan Palace, one the seats of power of the King of Patan when the Kathmandu Valley was divided into three different kingdoms.
Sunk into the floor of one courtyard was an ornate bath built in 1647. Although it was not on his official itinerary, he asked to see it and was invited to take his shoes off as a mark of respect.
"Good thing I've got the right socks on," he joked as he displayed a pair of socks with bright blue toes.

Prince Harry jokes as he attempts wood carving (i-Images Picture Agency)
Marvelling at wooden carvings he spoke knowledgeably about the cost of the rebuilding work, which has received a significant donation from his own father, Prince Charles, through one of his charities.
He also insisted that his party pay the tourist levy normally charged to tour the palace saying: "We will all pay, we must pay," adding: "Even them," as he gestured to the press.
As he left to tour the rest of the sights in the square, he was mobbed by hundreds of people. A group of local girls in school uniforms began screaming his name and hyperventilating as they tried to grab him and get selfies. The prince took it in his stride, smiling, waving and shaking hands.
He stopped to speak to several groups of tourists, asking one family: "Why Nepal, why have you come here? Well done, it's so, so important to encourage people to come back. Why would not you come back here? It's beautiful . "

The Prince's day had begun with a call on President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Nepal's first female President, elected by the country's Parliament in October 2015.
The meeting will took place at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Presidential Palace in Kathmandu with Harry performing a traditional Namaste greeting, with his hands clasped together.
The Prince and the President spoke through an interpreter as they were served tea, water and fruit juices.
When asked about his trip to Nepal Harry replied: "A long flight, but worth the hours to be in Nepal, finally."

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