A Hindu devotee in a trance on their pilgrimage to the Batu Caves temple in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on January 28, 2018. Malaysian Hindu participate in the annual Hindu thanksgiving festival in which devotees subject themselves to painful rituals in a demonstration of faith and penance held in honour of Lord Murugan, Hindu in Malaysia celebrated Thaipusam begin on Jan 28 until 31 this year. (Photo by Aflo/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A girl from Newar community is pictured with vermillion powder on her forehead as she takes part at the Ihi ceremony in Bhaktapur, Nepal on December 6, 2019. The two-day ceremony begins with purification rituals and ends with “Kanyadan” (giving away the virgin) of the girl by her father. A Newari girl gets married thrice in her life, first with Bel, the fruit of a wood-apple tree, secondly with the sun, and lastly with her future husband. (Photo by Monika Deupala/Reuters)

A man dressed in the likeness of the Hindu deity Agni Kandakarnan performs during the Theyyam ritualistic dance festival on March 14, 2023 in Somwarpet, India. Theyyam is a colourful socioreligious dance form that is the amalgamation of ritual, vocal and instrumental music, dance, painting, and literature and its genesis can be traced to the coastal regions of the southern Indian states of Kerala and Karnataka. (Photo by Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images)

Elders perform coronation rituals on Kabaka (King) Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II during his 30 year coronation at his palace in Mengo, Kampala, on July 31, 2023. Thousands of Ugandans thronged the palace grounds of the country's largest kingdom Buganda despite pouring rain on July 31, 2023, dancing and ululating as they marked 30 years since the coronation of King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II. (Photo by Badru Katumba/AFP Photo)

God of Wealth arrives at the Lunar New Year celebration at Thean Hou Temple on February 10, 2024, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Chinese New Year in Malaysia is marked by family gatherings, festive adornments and traditional rituals embodying a spirit of hope and renewal for the year ahead, and aims to bring joy and prosperity to all while fostering a sense of unity and hope for a successful Year of the Dragon. (Photo by Annice Lyn/Getty Images)

An offering of a dried baby llama and fake U.S. burn in honor of Pachamama, or Mother Earth, during a New Year ritual on Turriturrini Mountain on the outskirts of Huarina, Bolivia, Friday, June 21, 2024. Aymara Indigenous communities are celebrating the Andean New Year 5,532 or “Willka Kuti” which translates to “Return of the sun” in Aymara. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

Indian girl, Amrita Bannerjee, gets dressed as the Goddess Durga, during Kumari Puja ritual as part of the Durga Puja festival at Shidaspur village, far north of Kolkata, India, 30 September 2025. During the Kumari Puja, devotees worship a girl aged between six and twelve, symbolizing the Kanya Kumari (virgin) form of the Goddess Durga Devi. Hindu devotees believe that Kanya is a living embodiment of the goddess Durga. (Photo by Piyal Adhikary/EPA)

Iranian Shiite Muslim women gather around a bonfire after rubbing mud on their body during the “Kharrah Mali” (Mud Rubbing) ritual to mark the Ashura religious ceremony in the city of Khorramabad, some 470 kms southwest of Tehran, early in the morning on October 1, 2017. “Khrreh Mali” or “Mud Rubbing” is a ritual that is held in the city of Khorramabad every year to commemorate the seventh century slaying of Prophet Mohammed' s grandson Imam Hussein, in which Iranian men roll over in mud and dry themselves by gathering around the bonfires before flagellating themselves. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP Photo)