The festival marks the end of the monsoon season and beginning of autumn. More than hundred girls under the age of nine gathered for the tradition of worshiping young pre-pubescent girls as manifestations of the divine female energy. The ritual holds a strong religious significance in Newar community. It is a community affair held primarily to save small girls from diseases and bad luck in the years to come. Photo: A young Nepalese girl dressed as a Kumari or living Goddess, smiles for camera as she waits for Kumari puja at Hanuman Dhoka, Basantapur Durbar Square in Katmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, September 17, 2013. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

Members of a teenage girl gang convincing an unwilling recruit to join the gang, circa 1955. (Photo by Vecchio/Three Lions)

A girl smiles during the celebration of Holi at the Art Department of the University of Dhaka in Dhaka, Bangladesh on March 8, 2023. (Photo by Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters)

Girls ride on a donkey cart with grass for animals on the outside of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan May 19, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Parwiz)

Girls hold hands as they arrive their New Year parties in Newcastle, England on December 31, 2019. (Photo by Craig Connor/North News and Pictures)

Girls rest on stairs at the China Digital Entertainment Expo and Conference (ChinaJoy) in Shanghai, China July 27, 2017. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Girls sits on a bench during summer at the Central Park in New York, United States, 2011. (Photo by An Rong Xu)

“The girl behind the camera and the girl in front of the camera”, May 2012. (Photo by: Mandy Rosen; Source: Flickr)