A street vendor spreads vermilion powder used for worship during the Tihar festival, also called Diwali in Kathmandu, Nepal, November 9, 2015. Hindus all over Nepal are celebrating the Tihar festival during which they worship cows, which are considered a maternal figure, and other animals. Also known as the festival of lights, devotees also worship the goddess of wealth Laxmi by illuminating and decorating their homes using garlands, oil lamps, candles and colourful light bulbs. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A Hindu sadhu (holy man) smears coloured paste onto his face ahead of the forthcoming Hindu festival of “Maha Shivaratri” at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu on February 11, 2018. Hindus mark the “Maha Shivratri” festival by offering special prayers and fasting, with sadhus arriving at Pashupatinath to take part in the event, which takes place on February 13. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

A Nepalese girl in traditional attire takes part in Kumari Puja, a mass worship ceremony for preteen girls, in Kathmandu, Nepal on September 27, 2023. In Nepal, Kumari Puja is the tradition of selecting a Kumari, usually a preadolescent girl, to worship symbolically as a goddess. More than hundred girls under the age of nine from across the country gathered for the mass worship. Performing Kumari Puja for three continuous years is believed to protect the girls from diseases throughout their entire life. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE)

A young girl dressed as living goddess Kumari drinks juice as she waits for Kumari Puja, a worship ritual at Hanuman Dhoka, Basantapur Durbar Square, Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, September 27, 2023. Girls under the age of nine gathered for the tradition of worshiping young prepubescent girls as manifestations of the divine female energy. The ritual holds a strong religious significance in the Newar community that seeks divine blessings to save small girls from diseases and bad luck in the years to come. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

A group of sadhus (holy men) participate in a religious rally to mark the Mahashivaratri festival at Pashupati Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, 06 March 2024. The festival celebrated on 08 March, sees Hindu devotees from across the country and neighboring India gather to fast and offer special prayers to celebrate the birthday of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of creation and destruction. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE)

A woman prays during a Sarwan Brata (fast) offering to Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of creation and destruction, at the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal, 21 July 2025. Nepalese Hindu women wearing red, yellow and green attire, flock to temples during Sarwan month to pray for a long and prosperous life for their husbands, or to find a good husband. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA)

A girl walks along rice paddy fields during “National Paddy Day”, which marks the start of the annual rice planting season, in Tokha village on the outskirts of Kathmandu on June 29, 2020. Splashing mud and drinking local rice beer, Nepali farmers this week celebrated National Paddy Day to mark the beginning of the rice-planting season, despite some coronavirus lockdown measures still in place. Traditional farming songs and laughter echoed in the air as farmers waded into waterlogged fields to sow green paddy. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

A Nepalese devotee prepares for a religious mask performance during the Seekaali Festival in Khokna village, near Kathmandu, Nepal, 07 October 2016. During the 300-year-old Seekali festival, elderly ethnic Newari devotees wear masks of 14 various goddesses including Lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva, Lord Laxmi, Lord Brahma and Lord Bishnu. The Khokna people celebrate the Seekaali festival as an alternative of the Dashain festival which is biggest festival of Nepalese Hindus that celebrates the victory of the gods over demons. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA)