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)
Border Security Force (BSF) “Daredevils” women motorcycle riders perform during a rehearsal for the Republic Day parade on a cold winter morning in New Delhi, January 10, 2018. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)
Pakistani Rangers (black) and Indian Border Security Force personnel (brown) perform perform during the daily beating of the retreat ceremony at the India- Pakistan Wagah Border Post, some 35 kms west of Amritsar on August 14, 2017. Pakistan celebrates its independence on August 14, one day before India' s independence day on August 15. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)
In this Tuesday, March 31, 2015 photo, Indian women walk carrying firewood they collected from a forest at Gobhali village on the outskirts of Gauhati, India. Every evening, hundreds of millions of Indian women hover over crude stoves making dinner for their families. They feed the flames with polluting fuels like kerosene or cow dung, and breathe the acrid smoke wafting from the fires. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)