Portrait of a Muslim Cham girl wearing a white dress and bronze and copper jewellery at her Karoh (maturity) ceremony in Van Lam, Ninh Thuan province, Central Vietnam. Cham girls usually in groups of around 5, undergo a Karoh (maturity) ceremony, one of the most important ritual events of their lives and if it has not taken place, the girl cannot marry. The Cham, a Muslim community of around 39,000 people living along the coast of Central Vietnam are one of the 54 ethnic groups recognised by the Vietnamese government.
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