Traditional dancers with their masks look on before their performance during “Nawa Durga Nach” Hindu dance festival in Bhaktapur on the outskirts of Kathmandu on March 28, 2024. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

A woman fills her basket with marigold flowers, used to make garlands and offer prayers, as she plucks them before selling to the market for the Tihar festival, also called Diwali, in Kathmandu, Nepal on October 25, 2019. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A woman picks marigold flowers used to make garlands and offer prayers, before selling them to the market for the Tihar festival, also called Diwali, in Kathmandu, Nepal on October 17, 2017. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

People in Kathmandu joke that the face mask has now become part of the national dress – an indispensable accessory in an effort to protect themselves from the dust. Nepal has the worst air quality in the world, according to the Environmental Performance Index. (Photo by Pete Pattisson/The Guardian)

A woman poses for a photograph during Holi celebrations in the town of Barsana in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, March 6, 2017. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

Men slicing blubber off a large, dead whale. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). Circa 1912

Students of Yuba Pratibha School, wearing a face shield and masks at school during a coronavirus pandemic in Kathmandu, Nepal, 26 November 2020. The head Teacher of Yuba Pratibha School, Yanga Raj Dahal, started to conduct classes for students, who can’t afford and attend online classes, with strict sanitary regime, providing also free face masks and shields for students. However majority of schools have been conducting online classes in Nepal from 19 March 2020 as part of precautionary measures against the spread of the coronavirus Covid-19. (Photo by Narendra Shrestha/EPA/EFE)

An artist carries a clay statue of Lord Vishwakarma to the market for sale before the Vishwakarma Puja festival in Nepal, Kathmandu on September 16, 2025. The festival, celebrated on September 17 this year, honors Lord Vishwakarma, regarded as the divine engineer and craftsman, and involves prayers for creativity, prosperity, and protection of tools and workplaces. (Photo by Safal Prakash Shrestha/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)