Women perform Vat Savitri puja at ancient Katarmal Sun Temple in Kumaon, Uttarakhand

Even as one woman uses her mobile phone to record this ancient tradition, other hill and village women perform a Vat Savitri puja at the ancient Katarmal Sun Temple in Kumaon, Uttarakhand. A pandit pujari heads the ceremony while the women in their bridal finery attend, circle the Ficus/banyan tree, and tie threads around the trunk in order to marry it. The women all wear giant nath or nose rings from the Kumaon region.