Officials unpack an artifact sent back to Nepal from a museum in the United States of America during a press conference in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, January 31, 2024. Nepalese heritage activists and the Nepal government worked together to get dozens of stolen artifacts repatriated from The Rubin Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art, and Brooklyn Museum. Many archaeologically significant artifacts were illegally taken away from Nepal over several decades, with some finding their way into important museums in the west. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)





Nepalese Hindu women warm themselves by fires after taking a mass holy bath in the Salinadi River during the Madhav Narayan festival in Sankhu, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal, 01 February 2024. The Madhav Narayan festival is a full month-long event devoted to religious fasting, holy bathing and the study of the Swasthani book, which is dedicated to the God Shiva and Goddess Swastania. A chapter of the story is read each evening by priests or householders to the gathered family. Hundreds of married women and dozens of male devotees complete a month-long fast for a better life and peace in the country at various temples; unmarried women take the fast to attract a suitable husband and married women take the fast in hopes of improving their families' prosperity. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE)





Iron cages are erected around statues as a precaution against theft at Rato Machindranath temple in Lalitpur, Nepal, Thursday, February 8, 2024. An unknown number of sacred statues of Hindu deities were stolen and smuggled abroad in the past. Now dozens are being repatriated to the Himalayan nation, part of a growing global effort to return such items to countries in Asia, Africa and elsewhere. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)





Students from various schools are participating in the Bhaktapur Municipal School-level Karate Competition, organized by the Bhaktapur Municipality in Bhaktapur, on February 9, 2024. (Photo by Amit Machamasi/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)





A child helped by his father writes a message with chalk on a wall at the Saraswati temple on the occasion of the Hindu festival of “Basanta Panchami”, in Kathmandu on February 14, 2024. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)





Women in traditional attire light incense sticks as a 16th century statue of Hindu deity Uma-Maheswora, that was stolen four decades ago and later repatriated is paraded before reinstating the same at the premises of a temple where it belonged in Lalitpur, Nepal, Thursday, February 15, 2024. The idol had somehow ended up at the Brooklyn Museum in New York, which handed over the same to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office paving way to its return to Nepal. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)





Devotees gather aroud a 16th century statue of Hindu deity Uma-Maheswora, that was stolen four decades ago and later repatriated is paraded before reinstating the same at the premises of a temple where it belonged in Lalitpur, Nepal, Thursday, February 15, 2024. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)





The feet of a protestor is seen as borrowers, mostly farmers from Nepal’s rural districts, protesting against the alleged excesses of private lenders gather in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, February 23, 2024. Hundreds of protestors from remote villages had walked for weeks to arrive in the capital to demand that the government enact laws to regulate the lenders. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)





Hindu devotees take part in a religious procession on the occasion of Madhav Narayan festival in Bhaktapur on the outskirts of Kathmandu on February 23, 2024. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)





Hindu devotees take part in a bathing ritual on the last day of the month-long 'Madhav Narayan' Hindu festival along the Hanumante River in Bhaktapur on the outskirts of Kathmandu on February 24, 2024. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)





A group of sadhus (holy men) participate in a religious rally to mark the Mahashivaratri festival at Pashupati Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, 06 March 2024. The festival celebrated on 08 March, sees Hindu devotees from across the country and neighboring India gather to fast and offer special prayers to celebrate the birthday of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of creation and destruction. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE)





Sadhus or Hindu holy men smeared with ash take part in a religious procession ahead of the “Maha Shivaratri”, an annual festival dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu on March 6, 2024. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)





Band members of Shrijanshil Mahila Sanstha, or the Self-Reliant Women’s Group, stand for a photograph before they prepare to play at a wedding in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. Once associated only with men from the Damai community, part of the lowest caste, these nine women have come together to play the naumati baja, or nine traditional instruments. Discrimination based on caste is believed to have caused some Dalit musicians to quit playing naumati baja. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)





A Nepalese child reacts during the Holi Festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, 06 March 2023. Holi, also known as the “Festival of Colors”, marks the beginning of spring and is celebrated all over Nepal and neighboring India. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA)





A Sadhu, or Hindu holy person, smokes marijuana from a clay pipe on the Eve of the Maha Shivaratri festival at the Pashupati Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, 07 March 2024. Mahashivratri is considered one of the most auspicious festivals for the Hindu community. Hundreds of Sadhus and pilgrims from across the country and neighboring India gather to celebrate the birthday of lord Shiva, the god of creation and destruction, by offering special prayers and fasting. Selling Marijuana is an illegal in Nepal, however the administration overlooks selling and smoking Marijuana for this day. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA)





Young Hindu priests look at the Pashupatinath temple during the “Maha Shivaratri”, an annual festival dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva, in Kathmandu on March 8, 2024. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)





A Hindu holy man, or sadhu, smokes marijuana at the premises of Pashupatinath Temple, during the Shivaratri festival, in Kathmandu, Nepal, on March 8, 2024. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)





Hindu Holymen from India smoke marijuana on the bank of Bagmati river during Maha Shivaratri festival at Pashupatinath temple premises in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, March 8, 2024. Shivaratri, or the night of Shiva, is dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of death and destruction. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)





A Nepalese man paints the eye of Lord Buddha before the procession of the Samyak Mahadan festival in Patan, Nepal, 13 March 2024. Thousands of devotees observed the two-day-long Samyak Mahadan, an alms-giving festival offering worship at the painted idol of Lord Buddha, brought from various temples, for world peace and human welfare. Devotees offer different gifts to the deities, monks, and Buddhist communities, including money, food, and rice, during this festival, which is observed every five years. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE)





A woman looks out from a window in Bhaktapur on March 14, 2024. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)