A supporter of BJP dances during celebrations after learning of initial poll results outside the party headquarters in New Delhi, on May 16, 2014. (Photo by Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters)
Varanasi is a city on the banks of the Ganges in Uttar Pradesh, 320 kilometres (200 mi) southeast of the state capital, Lucknow. It is holiest of the seven sacred cities (Sapta Puri) in Hinduism and Jainism. Hindus believe that death at Varanasi brings salvation. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the oldest in India.
A woman dressed in the style of a Hindu goddess keeps her face partially covered for a ritual during Maha Shivaratri celebrations on March 12, 2021 in Kaveripattinam, India. Maha Shivaratri is a major Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god, Shiva. The festival is observed with chanting prayers, fasting, and meditating to overcome “darkness and ignorance” in life. (Photo by Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images)
A Hindu woman worships the Sun god in the waters of a lake during the religious festival of Chhath Puja in Agartala, India, November 13, 2018. (Photo by Jayanta Dey/Reuters)
A man gets ready backstage before performing in the 35th Cochin Carnival, which is held annually to welcome the start of the New Year at Fort Kochi in the southern state of Kerala, India, January 1, 2019. (Photo by Sivaram V/Reuters)
Indian young men wearing traditional folk dance “Bhangra” attire of Punjab, sit on see-saws and sip on soft drinks at a park before their performance during the Khalsa College International Folk Festival 2017 in Amritsar, India, 29 November 2017. The festival is aimed to promote cultural ties between India and participating countries. (Photo by Raminder Pal Singh/EPA/EFE)
A taxi driver waits for passengers inside his taxi parked on the side of a deserted road during the first day of the two-day state-imposed lockdown as a preventive measure against the surge in COVID-19 coronavirus cases in Kolkata on August 20, 2020. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)