It's astonishingly hot in Nepal in the summer months. The temperature is often over a 100 degrees (F) / 40 degrees (C). These Kumal women and children were escaping the mid-day heat under a palm frond shelter in their village.

In their finest clothes.
These women are worshiping the tree they are standing around. Every month, using the moon to set their calenders, for one entire day they go out and worship a tree. They dress up in their finest saris and bring offerings to the trees in the form of food and water and they meditate for hours as a group.

When I took these photos I was first yelled at by some men that I shouldn't and then told by the men that I couldn't even talk to the women so I tacitly withdrew only to be called by the women to come over and take their picture and talk to them which I did and they were thrilled that I was curious and open to what they were doing. I sat with them and they explained their relationship with the trees and why they worshiped them. This was another example of how confusing communication between the genders often is in Nepal and how deep the cultural roots of the separation between the genders are.