Sindoor Jatra: The Nepali New Year — When Vertigo Becomes Prayer. / Sindoor Jatra: el año nuevo Nepalí. Cuando el vértigo se convierte en plegaria

AsiaDocumentary ChroniclesChronicles from Two ShoresTravel & CultureDocumentary PhotographyRituals & Culture
Written By JOHN CUESTA

Discover Sindoor Jatra, the New Year festival of Thimi, Nepal — where orange dust, music, and devotion fuse into a breathtaking ritual of renewal. Photographs & Text by John Cuesta Photography.

Every April, the town of Thimi, in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley, bursts into a storm of orange dust, drums, and devotion. The Sindoor Jatra marks the New Year for the Newar community, transforming the streets into a living altar where chaos becomes ritual and color turns into faith.

Through this chronicle, I explore the tension between noise and silence, trance and tenderness — the moments where the divine passes through the human body.

This story forms part of my ongoing series Chronicles from Two Shores, connecting rituals and cultural expressions across Asia and Latin America through photography and narrative.

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Cada abril, el pueblo de Thimi, en el valle de Katmandú (Nepal), estalla en una tormenta de polvo naranja, tambores y devoción. El Sindoor Jatra marca el Año Nuevo para la comunidad Newar, transformando las calles en un altar vivo donde el caos se convierte en ritual y el color en fe.

A través de esta crónica exploro la tensión entre el ruido y el silencio, el trance y la ternura: los momentos en que lo divino atraviesa el cuerpo humano.

Esta historia forma parte de mi serie en curso Crónicas desde las dos orillas, que conecta rituales y expresiones culturales de Asia y América Latina a través de la fotografía y la narrativa.

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JOHN CUESTA

John Cuesta is a passionate photographer who emerged from the vibrant streets of Bogotá, Colombia and has spent over a decade honing his craft. He enriched his journey with master's studies in artistic photography and digital post-production in Spain and is now based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he builds his documentary and artistic path through diverse portraiture.

His unique background as an architect and urban designer shapes his visual storytelling, weaving narratives with social and artistic depth. His travels across continents have given him a deeper understanding of human culture and a nuanced anthropological perspective.

With more than a decade of experience in corporate, conceptual, art portraiture, street photography, and photo documentaries, he is an accomplished photographer and educator. His award-winning work has been published in photobooks and shown in exhibitions such as "Asia: The Way Back Home", images showcasing the connection between aesthetics and human experience.

He won first place in the categories “Beauty of Victoria,” “Beauty of Melbourne,” and “Culture of Victoria” in the “How Far We Have Come” (2015) competition, organized by the Government of Victoria as part of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale in Australia. His work invites viewers on a journey of self-discovery.

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Magdalena to Mekong: Documentary Stories of Rivers and Memory / Del Magdalena al Mekong: Historias documentales de ríos y memoria.