Nepalis bare all to call for rain

Irrigation has been the answer to many a prayer

Women in Nepal are reportedly ploughing fields in the nude to please the rain god during a dry spell.

The Himalayan Times said about a dozen Tharu women in south-west Baijapur bared all as concern grows over lack of rain during the rice planting season.

"My mother-in-law said the God would be pleased and make rain fall if women till the land naked," it quoted one of the farmers, Ambika Tharu, 35.

Men also pray for rain, it said, but keep their clothes on.

Farmers usually finish planting rice by the end of June.

But this year, with no rain and irrigation, land has been lying uncultivated.

Mrs Tharu said tilling the land naked was a tradition which had been observed for generations.

"I dared to bare all to please the God because we will have to face a very difficult situation if it does not rain," she said.