An Indian priest worships six-year-old Hindu girl Anushka Chetterjee dressed as the Hindu goddess Durga at a “pandal” for the celebrations of the “Durga Puja” festival in Kolkata on September 28, 2017. The five-day Durga Puja festival, which commemorates the slaying of the demon king Mahishasur by the goddess Durga, marks the triumph of good over evil. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)

Nepalese Hindu priests perform rituals during Janai Purnima festival at Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, August 18, 2016. During this festival Hindus take holy baths and perform annual change of the Janai, a sacred cotton string worn around their chest or tied on the wrist, in the belief that it will protect and purify them. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

An Armed Police dog with vermillion on its forehead and marigold garland placed around its neck looks on during an event to mark the Hindu festival Tihar, at the Armed Police Dog Training School in Kathmandu on November 12, 2023. Dogs in Nepal were decked with marigold garlands and bright vermillion paint on November 12 to celebrate a day dedicated to them as part of a Hindu festival. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

Satarupa Chakraborty, 5, dressed as a Kumari, yawns while she is worshipped by a Hindu priest during the religious festival of Durga Puja in Agartala October 2, 2014. (Photo by Jayanta Dey/Reuters)

Youths smeared in coloured powder and dressed as Lord Krishna (L) and deity Radha (R) celebrate with others the Holi festival, the Hindu spring festival of colours, in Kolkata on March 17, 2022. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)

A devotee throws a clay idol of Hindu elephant-headed deity Ganesh into the sea on the third day of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, in Chennai on August 24, 2020. (Photo by Arun Sankar/AFP Photo)

A Naga Sadhu or Hindu holy man adjusts the beads around his neck ahead of the first Shahi Snan at “Kumbh Mela” or the Pitcher Festival, in Haridwar, India, March 10, 2021. (Photo by Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters)

Volunteers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist organisation, take part in a route march on the outskirts of Chennai on April 16, 2023. (Photo by R.Satish Babu/AFP Photo)