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)
Police officers wield their batons against activists from various student unions during a protest march demanding jobs and better education facilities, in Kolkata, India, February 11, 2021. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)
A Hindu devotee offers prayers at the Sangam, the confluence of three rivers – the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, to take a ritualistic bath during Makar Sankranti festival that falls during the annual traditional fair of Magh Mela festival, one of the most sacred pilgrimages in Hinduism, in Prayagraj, India. Friday, January 14, 2022. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)
Female porters carry a holy woman belonging to the Jain community through a street to collect food from local residents living in nearby areas, during early morning in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad December 19, 2014. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)
A Hindu holy man is reflected on a mirror as he prepares a bowl of vermillion powder for devotees near “Sangam”, the confluence of holy rivers of Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, during the annual traditional fair of Magh Mela in Allahabad, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, India, Tuesday, January 6, 2015. Hundreds of thousands of devout Hindus are expected to take holy dips at the confluence during the astronomically auspicious period of over 45 days celebrated as Magh Mela. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)