“Cub”. In the colony of penguins in South Georgia. (Photo and caption by Ondrej Zaruba/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

A mahout rides on an elephant in the city of Amritsar, India, 08 November 2015. Such elephants are often accompanied by their caretakers who ask for alms from people in the streets. (Photo by Raminder Pal Singh/EPA)

A man dressed as Hindu god Shiva, smokes during an annual Hindu religious festival locally known as Shyam Baba festival in Ajmer, in the desert Indian state of Rajasthan, April 12, 2015. (Photo by Himanshu Sharma/Reuters)

An Indian Sikh Nihang, or warrior, performs Gatka martial arts skills during a procession at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on January 6, 2014, as part of birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh. The birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru, is marked on January 6. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

Models display a creation by K-Lynn Lingerie during a fashion show in the Lebanese capital Beirut on April 24, 2016. (Photo by Anwar Amro/AFP Photo)

A menacing swarm of locusts that entered southern Israel earlier this week has been largely smitten, according to the Israeli government and local reports. But some of the insects' ilk may be back later this week. (Photo by Eliyahu Hershkovitz)

“Mehndi or menhdi is the application of henna as a temporary form of skin decoration in India, as well as by expatriate communities from the country. The word mehndi is derived from the Sanskrit word mendhikā. The use of mehndi and turmeric is described in the earliest Vedic ritual books. Haldi (Staining oneself with turmeric paste) as well as mehndi are important Vedic customs as a symbolic representation of the Outer and the Inner Sun. Vedic customs are meant to awaken the “inner light” and so the gold of the inner Sun has an important symbolic function”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Application of henna or “Mehndi” to a girls hand in a market on October 18, 2010 in Jaipur, India. (Photo by Simon de Trey-White/Getty Images)

Portraiture of Manipuri Girls attire herself as Gopi and Krishna to celebrate and performing traditional Ras Leela dance festival at Mirgajungle Manipuri Rajbari in Sylhet, Banglades on November 7, 2022. (Photo by Md Rafayat Haque Khan/Eyepix Gr/Avalon)