Kathmandu, March 7 -- When Sanju Maharjan married into the Mali community two decades ago, she quickly learned that women's voices were limited.

"If I said anything, I was told, 'You're a woman, so please stay quiet,'" she recalls. Leadership roles in the Guthi, the socio-religious institution of the Newar community that manages festivals, feasts, funerals, and communal responsibilities, were reserved for men.

Women prayed, fasted, plastered floors with mud, and supported rituals from home. Committee discussions and leadership roles were male-dominated.

Today, Sanju is the secretary of the Navadurga Bhawani Devi Guthi Preservation Committee. She first joined as a volunteer and gradually assumed a formal role after the community began i...