The Merger of New and Old Religious Dogmata in Nepal
10 January 2022 - Written by PhMuseum
The series Thy Kingdom Come by Satyadeep Singh explores the marginalised life of the village Busapedha, in Nepal, where an ongoing rapid shift towards Christianity co-exists with protracted caste-based discrimination.
The people of the small village Busapedha, located in the remote parts of Northern Himalayas in Nepal. Breathes-in the air of a tender, fragile and a complex social system. Having around 20 mountain dwellers families, the village comprises of Dalit’s and Taman’s inhabiting their subsequent territories demarcated by altitude and geography. With generations of caste-based discrimination, segregation and conversion – voluntary or through evangelisation, life in Busapedha is marginalised and freedom seems to be a distant dream.
After 2018 government officially banned religious conversions from the country for the next two centuries, but the numbers suggest many consider it a risk worth taking as the “untouchables” are among the most oppressed by this social system, which leaves no sphere untouched. Testament to how legions of Dalit’s are prepared to gamble on breaking the law in search of a more dignified life, Nepal now harbours one of the fastest-growing Christian populations in the world.
Existing between documentary and staged narrative, Thy Kingdom Come is an ongoing work exploring the notion of identity through the lens of religion and caste based discrimination.
Words and Pictures by Satyadeep Singh.
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Satyadeep Singh, based in India, has developed a practice that combines the roles of a photographer and visual artist. He believes in expressing societal and cultural issues with a different medium of contemporary art practices. Follow him on Instagram and PhMuseum.
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This feature is part of Story of the Week, a selection of relevant projects from our community handpicked by the PhMmuseum curators.