Pietro Lo Casto documents a remote Nepalese village under threat.
Tangia Basti is home to around 7000 people, composed of different castes and ethnicities, including Tamangs, Magars, Dalits, Chettris and Brahmins, while Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity are the prevalent religions. Commonality is found through tradition and the village’s resident Ban Jhankri shaman. With help from the forest itself, the local shaman is the villagers’ first call for ailments, such as allergies, insomnia and even possession. Villagers, whose spiritual connection to the ecosystem is fundamental to their being, provide offerings to trees to deter evil spirits.