An Indian artisan makes Durga idol near a road outside his workshop ahead of the Hindu Durga festival in Guwahati, India, Wednesday, October 2, 2024. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)





A Hindu devotee participates in the “Tarpan” ritual during Mahalaya prayers on the banks of the Ganges River in Kolkata, India, 02 October 2024. Mahalaya, observed seven days before the Hindu festival of Durga Puja, is a significant occasion marked by prayers and rituals, serving as both an auspicious event and a day of remembrance. On this day, people offer 'tarpan' in memory of their deceased forefathers. (Photo by Piyal Adhikary/EPA)





A Kashmiri female farmer works in a paddy during rice harvest on the outskirts of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 03 October 2024. The autumn season marks the paddy harvesting period in Indian Kashmir. (Photo by Farooq Khan/EPA)





Artists performs during an inauguration of Navratri or nine night festival, which begins today in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, October 3, 2024. (Photo by Ajit Solanki/AP Photo)





An artist paints an effigy of the Hindu demon king 'Ravana' ahead of the upcoming festival 'Dussehra' in Varanasi on October 4, 2024. (Photo by Niharika Kulkarni/AFP Photo)





An artisan gives a finishing touch to a Durga Puja “Pandal” (temporary place for worship), where more than 8000 natural plants are used for the decoration to create awareness about mother nature, next to an idol of the Hindu Goddess Durga, as a part of the “Durga Puja” festival in Kolkata on October 5, 2024. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)





A Hindu devotee performs around the fire during a religious procession in Chandigarh on October 5, 2024. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)





Sarang Helicopter Display Team of the Indian Air Force (IAF) perform an airshow during celebrations ahead of the Indian Air Force day at Marina beach in Chennai on October 6, 2024. (Photo by R. Satish Babu/AFP Photo)





An Indian artist makes effigies of the antagonists in the Hindu epic Ramayana, Ravana, Meghnath and Kumbhkaran in preparation for the upcoming Dussehra festival in Jammu, India, Monday, October 7, 2024. (Photo by Channi Anand/AP Photo)





Maldives' President Mohamed Muizzu inspects an honour guard during his ceremonial reception at the forecourt of India's Presidential Palace Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, India, on October 7, 2024. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)





Supporters of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference party celebrate outside the vote counting centre on the day of the assembly election results, in Srinagar, on October 8, 2024. (Photo by Sharafat Ali/Reuters)





A polling official displays a sealed electronic voting machine to polling agents as they count the votes in the recent election for a local government in Indian-controlled Kashmir on the outskirts of Srinagar, Tuesday, October 8, 2024. (Photo by Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo)





People watch a Dussehra festival procession early morning in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India, Tuesday, October 8, 2024. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)





An auto driver's children wait inside the auto during the Ram Leela fair at a ground in Varanasi on October 8, 2024. (Photo by Niharika Kulkarni/AFP Photo)





An aerial view shows revellers wearing traditional clothes as they dance at a “Garba” during the Hindu festival of Navratri, in the outskirts of Ahmedabad on October 9, 2024. (Photo by Sam Panthaky/AFP Photo)





Vikas Sirswal, 32, right, playing the character of the demon king Ravana and Hitanshi Jha, 21, playing the character of Sita perform onstage during Ramleela, a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Hindu god Rama according to the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, October 9, 2024. (Photo by Manish Swarup/AP Photo)





An Indian man applies makeup on artist Krishna Shukla, 14, dressed up as Hindu God Laxman, ahead of a religious procession during the Dussehra festival, also known as Vijayadashami, the day Rama killed demon King Ravana who had abducted Rama's wife Sita, celebrating the victory of good over evil every the 12th of October, in Prayagraj in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, October 9, 2024. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)





Indian artists dressed as Hindu deities Rama, left, and Lakshman, right, sit on a chariot being pulled by laborer that passes through the narrow alleys ahead of a religious procession during the Dussehra festival also known as Vijayadashami, the day Rama killed demon king Ravana who had abducted Rama's wife Sita, celebrating the victory of good over evil on 12th october in Prayagraj in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, India, Wednesday, October 9, 2024. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)





Indian nursing students wearing black ribbon over their eyes, walk with blind children during a rally on World Sight Day in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India, Thursday, October 10, 2024. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)





A young girl dressed as Hindu Goddess “Durga” sits near the deity's idol during the traditional “Kumari Puja” as a part of the Durga Puja festival in Kolkata on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)