Nepalese Army soldiers fire during the grand rehearsal for Army Day celebrations in Kathmandu, Nepal, 18 February 2020. The Nepalese Army has been active since 1744 and is made up of about 95,000 army infantry and air service members. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE)





A boy writes on the wall of a Saraswati temple during the Shreepanchami festival dedicated to goddess of education Saraswati in belief that the goddess will help devotees excel in education, in Kathmandu, Nepal on January 30, 2020. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)





A girl from Newar community is pictured with vermillion powder on her forehead as she takes part at the Ihi ceremony in Bhaktapur, Nepal on December 6, 2019. The two-day ceremony begins with purification rituals and ends with “Kanyadan” (giving away the virgin) of the girl by her father. A Newari girl gets married thrice in her life, first with Bel, the fruit of a wood-apple tree, secondly with the sun, and lastly with her future husband. (Photo by Monika Deupala/Reuters)





Nepalese man Bhakta Bahadur Gurung throws a fishing net to catch fish in Phewa Lake in Pokhara, Nepal, Thursday, January 2, 2020. Phewa Lake is one among seven lakes in Pokhara. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)





Devotees with lit oil lamps perform religious rituals during the Swasthani Brata Katha festival at Thecho in Lalitpur, Nepal, February 6, 2020. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)





Workers stand over a furnace at a bricks factory to keep themselves warm on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, January 9, 2020. Thousands of workers from neighboring India and other parts of Nepal come to the Kathmandu valley to work in brick factories during the dry winter season. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)





People are silhouetted as they gather around Milan Rai's art installation “Lunatic”, a replica of the Moon, as it is displayed at Patan Durbar Square, a UNESCO world heritage site, in Lalitpur, Nepal on December 22, 2019. According to the artist the idea came as a response to today's individualistic society with the hope for many to find commonality. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)





Gurung girls wearing a traditional costume pose as they take part in Tamu Lhosar parade, marking the beginning of the Gurung community's new year, in Kathmandu, Nepal, December 31, 2019. (Photo by Monika Deupala/Reuters)





A family look at pigeons as they pass time at a temple in Kathmandu, Nepal on February 16, 2020. (Photo by Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)





Devotees offer prayers as they stand on the bank of the Hanumante River during the final day of the month-long Swasthani Brata Katha festival in Bhaktapur, Nepal on February 9, 2020. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)





A mahout decorates his elephant before an elephant beauty pageant in Sauraha Chitwan, some 150km southwest of Kathmandu, on January 2, 2020. The Chitwan Elephant Festival is celebrated with elephant football games and an elephant beauty pageant. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)





A Indian migrant woman worker carries bricks at a brick factory on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, January 9, 2020. Thousands of workers from neighboring India and other parts of Nepal come to the Kathmandu valley to work in brick factories during the dry winter season. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)





A Hindu woman offers prayers on the banks of the Shali River on the outskirts of Kathmandu on January 10, 2020, as Hindu devotees across the country marked the Swasthani Brata Katha festival. Hundreds of married and unmarried women in the Himalayan nation have started a month-long fast for the Swasthani Brata Katha festival, marked with an auspicious bathing in water bodies in the hope of a prosperous life and conjugal happiness (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)





Hindu devotees perform rituals as they bathe in the Shali River on the outskirts of Kathmandu on January 10, 2020, to mark the Swasthani Brata Katha festival. Hundreds of married and unmarried women in the Himalayan nation have started a month-long fast for the Swasthani Brata Katha festival, marked with an auspicious bathing in water bodies in the hope of a prosperous life and conjugal happiness (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)





In this Friday, January 17, 2020, photo, a Nepalese woman speaks on a phone at Asian Trekking, a Nepal-based mountaineering company, in Kathmandu, Nepal. Once relegated to support staff, Nepalese climbers famous for their skills on the world's highest peaks are emerging out of the shadows of their Western peers and now dominate the lucrative industry in the Himalayan nation. Sherpa guides are now more educated, and have traveled farther than their predecessors, picking up business acumen and corporate endorsements. As a result, there are more Nepal-based companies globally, not just in Nepal, but also in China, India and Pakistan, which collectively boast the world's 14 highest peaks. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)





A detained Chinese man reacts towards the media as he walks into the police station in Kathmandu, Nepal on December 24, 2019. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)





A Nepalese Hindu devotee washes her feet as she waits to collect holy water from Bagmati river to perform rituals during Madhav Narayan festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, January 24, 2020. During this month-long festival, devotees recite Holy Scriptures dedicated to Hindu goddess Swasthani and Hindu God Lord Shiva. Unmarried women pray to get a good husband while those married pray for the longevity of their husbands by observing month long fast. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)





A Nepalese Hindu devotee carries water-soaked hay as part of rituals during Madhav Narayan festival in Thecho, Lalitpur, Nepal, Thursday, February 6, 2020. During this month-long festival, devotees recite Holy Scriptures dedicated to Hindu goddess Swasthani and Hindu God Lord Shiva. Unmarried women pray to get a good husband while those married pray for the longevity of their husbands by observing month long fast. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)





Members of the indigenous Gurung community wearing traditional attire react as they take part in a New Year celebration ceremony known as “Tamu Lhosar” in Kathmandu on December 31, 2019. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)





People wearing protective masks spin a prayer wheel during a mass prayer for the victims of coronavirus, at Boudhha stupa, also known as Boudhanath, in Kathmandu, Nepal, 15 February 2020. The event was organized by the famous Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche of Ka-Nying Monastery. Nepal has so far reported only one case of infection. The disease caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been officially named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO). The outbreak, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has so far killed at least 1,526 people with over 67,000 infected worldwide, mostly in China. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)





A group of Sadhus, Hindu holy people, take part in a religious rally to mark the annual Hindu festival of Maha Shivratri, at Pashupati Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, 19 February 2020. Maha Shivratri festival, which is celebrated on 21 February, sees Hindu devotees, from across the country and neighboring India, gather to celebrate the birthday of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of creation and destruction, by offering special prayers and fasting. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE)





A Sadhu smokes marijuana from a chillum as another Sadhu waits for his turn inside the Pashupathinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal on February 19, 2020. With only a few days left for the Maha Shivaratri festival Sadhus from all over India and Nepal have gradually started to arrive at the temple premise for the celebration. (Photo by Prabin Ranabhat/Pacific Press via ZUMA Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)