Flood-battered Nepal kicks off festival season with weeklong Indra Jatra as more rain is predicted

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KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Devotees pulled a wooden chariot with a girl revered as a living goddess in Nepal, kicking off the festival season in the Himalayan nation on Friday even as it struggles to recover from devastating floods last month. Meteorologists warned of more heavy rainfall this week.

The weeklong Indra Jatra festival is the first of a string of celebrations in the predominantly Hindu nation. Dasain, the main festival, is coming up in October, while Tihar — or Diwali, the Festival of Lights — is due in November.

The festival of Indra Jatra marks the end of the monsoon and rice farming season and signals the start of fall. It’s celebrated mostly by the Newar community, the native residents of Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital. It is also known as the festival of deities and demons, and especially honors Indra, the Hindu god of rain.

As Kumari, a young girl revered by both Hindus and Buddhists in Nepal as a living goddess, was taken around the center of Kathmandu, worshippers lined up to receive her blessing. Nepalese President Ram Chandra Poudel, officials and diplomats attended the ceremony on Friday.

Nepalese authorities warned of heavy rainfall forecast until Sunday and cautioned residents living near rivers. Schools across the country were shut down on Thursday and Friday.

Landslides and flooding on Friday closed some major highways, but no casualties were reported.

According to the country's disaster management agency, rescuers were still looking for those missing in the massive Aug. 26 flooding that destroyed several towns and killed 1,453 people when a Himalayan slope collapsed and unleashed catastrophic flooding.

Some 5,550 people are still missing, including hundreds of foreign tourists. Family members of workers missing at a key power plant since the flooding have demanded authorities speed up the recovery efforts.