The 13th edition of the South Asian Games formally began with an opening ceremony at Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu on Sunday. The ten-day sporting carnival will see the athletes of South Asia competing for glory in 26 different sports categories.

This is the third time Nepal has hosted the Games. Besides the inaugural edition in 1984, Nepal had hosted the 8th edition of the regional games in 1999.

Though the regional games is the biggest sporting festival of South Asia, the preparations were carried out at snail’s pace.

Nepal government took all the time in the world to reconstruct the Dashrath Stadium, which was badly affected in the 2015 earthquake. Amid this sloppiness, the stadium was well illuminated and decorated for the inauguration ceremony.

The sporting events will be held in Kathmandu, Pokhara and Janakpur.

Here are some of the photos from the event.

For our full coverage, go to tkpo.st/SAG2019