A Malaysian Hindu devotee (C) reacts in a state of trance as she walks towards the Batu caves temple during the Thaipusam festival celebrations in Kuala Lumpur on January 24, 2016. More than a million Hindus celebrate the festival of “Thaipusam” at temples across the country. (Photo by Manan Vatsyayana/AFP Photo)

Indian Hindu devotees carry an idol of the elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesha for immersion in a temporary pond near Sangam in Allahabad on September 4, 2017. The Ganesh Chaturthi festival is a popular 11-day religious festival which is annually celebrated across India. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

An Indian boy sells flowers to Hindu devotees of Lord Shiva as they perform rituals after collecting water from the river Ganges during the holy month of Shravan, In Allahabad on July 22, 2019. Shravan is considered the holiest month in the Hindu calendar with many religious festivals and ceremonies. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

A Hindu devotee takes sand bath at Sangam, the confluence of the rivers Ganges and Yamuna, in Prayagraj, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Monday, June 5, 2023. Prayagraj in the northern Uttar Pradesh state is an important Hindu pilgrimage center. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

A Hindu holy man shouts religious slogans during a procession to mark 'Krishna Janmashtami' in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, August 19, 2022. Krishna Janmashtami marks the birth of Hindu god Krishna. (Photo by Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo)

A man is smeared with “Gulal” as he celebrates Holi, the Hindu spring festival of colours, in Hyderabad on March 25, 2024. (Photo by Noah Seelam/AFP Photo)

Naga Sadhus or Hindu holy men, smeared with ash, drink tea inside their makeshift camps near the confluence of river Ganges and the Bay of Bengal, ahead of Makar Sankranti festival at Sagar Island, south of Kolkata January 13, 2015. Hindu monks and pilgrims are making their annual trip to Sagar Island for the one-day festival of “Makar Sankranti” on Wednesday. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

A devotee pulls a chariot during the Hindu festival of Thaipusam in Singapore February 9, 2017. (Photo by Edgar Su/Reuters)