KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — The old palace in the heart of Nepal's Kathmandu was packed to the brim as tens of thousands of devotees celebrated the beginning of the monthslong festival season on Saturday.

Men and boys in colorful masks and gowns representing Hindu deities danced to traditional music and drums, drawing throngs of spectators as families gathered for feasts and lit incense for the dead at shrines.

The weeklong Indra Jatra festival is the first of many other coming celebrations in the predominantly Hindu nation, which include Dasain, the main festival, celebrated later this month, and Tihar, or Diwali, the festival of lights, in October.

In the heart of the crowd, devotees could be seen pulling a wooden chariot with a young girl, known as Kumari, or virgin in the Nepali languag

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