A devotee of the Chinese shrine of Kathu Shrine, pierces his cheeks with umbrellas during a procession of Vegetarian Festival on October 4, 2011 in Phuket, Thailand. Ritual Vegetarianism in Phuket Island traces it roots back to the early 1800's. The festival begins on the first evening of the ninth lunar month and lasts for nine days. Participants in the festival perform acts of body piercing as a means of shifting evil spirits from individuals onto themselves and bring the community good luck. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Getty Images)

College students dress in the guise of Hindu deities Krishna and Radha, ahead of Janmashtami festival, in Chennai on August 23, 2024. (Photo by R.Satish Babu/AFP Photo)

A devotee of Hindu goddess Kali performs a ritual during the “Bonalu” festival in Hyderabad, India, Sunday, July 28, 2019. Bonalu is a month-long Hindu folk festival of the Telangana region dedicated to Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction. (Photo by Mahesh Kumar A./AP Photo)

Punjab police's “Shakti Teams” a squad formed for women safety waits before an official flag off ceremony in Amritsar on September 14, 2021. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

Participants jump over a bonfire as they celebrate the Pagan holiday of Ivan Kupala, a traditional holiday that has been observed in Ukraine since pre-Christian times, in Kyiv, on June 23, 2024, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Photo by Anatolii Stepanov/AFP Photo)

Family members and relatives of passengers on board the Twin Otter aircraft operated by Tara Air, weep outside the airport in Pokhara on May 29, 2022. A passenger plane with 22 people on board went missing in Nepal on May 29, the operating airline and officials said, as poor weather hampered a search operation. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

A performer dressed as the Hindu Godess Kali takes part in a religious procession on the occasion of the Hindu festival of “Maha Shivaratri” in Pushkar on March 8, 2024. (Photo by Himanshu Sharma/AFP Photo)

A man pedals his cycle rickshaw during monsoon rains in New Delhi, India August 31, 2016. Normal life was thrown out of gear as heavy rainfall lashed the city Wednesday morning, resulting in waterlogging and traffic jams. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)