Two ruddy shelducks fly under a double rainbow in Odisha, India in July 2022. These birds are ruddy shelduck, known locally as the Brahminy duck. They have a wingspan of between 43 and 53 inches and stand at a maximum of 28 inches tall. (Photo by Suman Das/Media Drum Images)

“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)

Mahouts return home with their elephants carrying grass to feed them on the eve of the rhino census in Kaziranga National Park in Assam state, India, 24 March 2015. Kaziranga will be closed to visitors for the next two days for a census of the rhinos commencing 25 March, in a previous census in 2013 in the park the population of the Indian rhinos was 2329. (Photo by EPA/Stringer)

Revelers, covered in coloured powder, celebrate, during a Holi Run Festival in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, April 12, 2015. Thousands of revelers took part in the festival that includes a mini marathon. The festivals are fashioned after the Hindu spring festival Holi, which is mainly celebrated in the north and east of India. (Photo by Andres Kudacki/AP Photo)

A participant from Indonesia waits to perform a dance during the last day of World Culture Festival on the banks of the river Yamuna in New Delhi, India, March 13, 2016. The festival opened on the banks of the Yamuna River in the Indian capital Friday despite concerns the sprawling construction of roads, ramps and pontoon bridges would irreparably damage the river's floodplains. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

Women cry as they look for reusable household materials after fire broke at slums in Kadivali area of Mumbai, India, Monday, December 7, 2015. Hundreds of homes were reportedly destroyed as fire tenders labored to reach the source in the heavily congested area. (Photo by Rajanish Kakade/AP Photo)

Indian policemen carry the body of one of their colleagues killed in a rebel attack in the town of Dinanagar, in the northern state of Punjab, India, Monday, July 27, 2015. Indian forces fought an extended gunbattle Monday with militants who attacked a moving bus and stormed into a police station in a northern town bordering Pakistan. (Photo by Channi Anand/AP Photo)