Hundreds of thousands of Hindu devotees celebrate festival

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of devotees crowd to worship at a revered Hindu temple in Nepal’s capital as coronavirus cases drop and life returns to normal. On Monday, 180 new infections were reported, down from a peak of over 9,000 in January. Around 1 million devotees were expected to visit the temple of Hindu god Shiva on Shivaratri festival. During the festival, devotees fast all day and visit the temple and take dip in the Bagmati River. The festival is also famed for freely smoking marijuana. Though still against the law in Nepal, a group of ruling party lawmakers and campaigners are trying to legalize the farming and use of marijuana.