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)

Bad Christmas gift makes the pretty girl look disappointed in x-mas time under the christmas tree. (Photo by pixelrain/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A boy sells balloons in front of a closed market as the government reduces market business hours after new cases of COVID-19 were reported across the country in Peshawar, Pakistan, 03 August 2021. Countries around the world are taking increased measures to stem the widespread of the COVID-19 disease. (Photo by Arshad Arbab/EPA/EFE)

Female members of the Hammer tribe from the village of Turmi, situated in southern Ethiopia near the Kenyan border, dance as part of a ritual called the “bull jumping ceremony” that takes place during the passage of a young boy to adulthood, in Turmi, Ethiopia, 25 September 2019. (Photo by Stéphanie Lecocq/EPA/EFE)

A boy searches for coins thrown by Hindu devotees in river Yamuna where water levels have reduced drastically following hot weather in New Delhi, India, Monday, May 2, 2022. The Indian capital, like many other parts of South Asia, is in the midst of a record-shattering heatwave. (Photo by Manish Swarup/AP Photo)

Boy says hello to a swimming bear in Seattle, Washington on October 4, 2022. Fall weather brings out the Animals' playful side as Attendees celebrate World Animal Day with a visit to Woodlawn Park Zoo. (Photo by Shane Srogi/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)