People wait for Pope Francis to celebrate mass at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Irbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Sunday, March 7, 2021. The Vatican and the pope have frequently insisted on the need to preserve Iraq's ancient Christian communities and create the security, economic and social conditions for those who have left to return (Photo by Andrew Medichini/AP Photo)

A child wearing a costume runs up the steps during Purim celebrations at the Coral Temple synagogue in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, March 20, 2019. Children put on fancy costume dress joining dozens of believers from Romania's Jewish community who attended a Purim service to celebrate the Jews' salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, as recounted in the Book of Esther. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)

People splash each other in downtown Yerevan, Armenia during an annual Vardavar holiday on July 16, 2023. Vardavar is a traditional Armenian water festival, with people drenching each other, dating back to pagan times. The ancient festival is traditionally associated with the goddess Astghik, who was the goddess of water, beauty, love, and fertility. (Photo by Karen Minasyan/AFP Photo)

Sabera Bayanne, 20, a student of the Shaolin Wushu club, practices in Kabul, Afghanistan January 29, 2017. On a snowy mountaintop to the west of Kabul, a group of Afghan girls practise the flowing movements of Wushu, a sport developed from ancient Chinese kung fu martial arts, stretching and bending and slashing the air with bright swords. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)

Gohei Hayashi of Kyoto University is seen in side his movable eco and healing house, “Kujira (Whale) House” July 21, 2007 in Tokyo, Japan. The house is made from Japanese paper, bamboo and tatami mat. Hayashi has travelled 500 km from Japan's ancient city, Kyoto to Tokyo with his eco house to promote his house which can be placed both out inside and outside to provide a private space. The Kujira house is available at the price of 800,000 yen (roughly US$6600). (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

Israelis participate in a “Zombie Walk” during the Jewish holiday of Purim on March 6, 2012 in Tel Aviv, Israel. The carnival-like Purim holiday is celebrated with parades and costume parties to commemorate the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plot to exterminate them in the ancient Persian empire 2,500 years ago, as described in the Book of Esther. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

Male is the capital and most populous city in the Republic of Maldives. The city is geographically located at the southern edge of North Malé Atoll (Kaafu Atoll). Administratively, it is a city-class constituency and is governed by the Malé City Council. Traditionally it was the King's Island, from where the ancient Maldive Royal dynasties ruled and where the palace was located. The city was then called “Mahal”. Formerly it was a walled city surrounded by fortifications and gates (doroshi).