Commuters interact with an elephant as he rests in a public road ahead of the annual Perahera festival of the historic Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo on February 18, 2019. Some 50 elephants, most of them from the central area of Kandy along with thousands of traditional drummers, dancers, and monks have gathered in the Sri Lankan capital to participate in the city's biggest two-day annual Buddhist Navam procession, scheduled for February 18-19. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)

A Thai Buddhist monk performs a religious rite blessing elephants and mahouts to mark the National Elephant Day at the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal in the world heritage city of Ayutthaya, Thailand, 13 March 2025. The National Elephant Day has been observed annually on 13 March since 1998 when it was established by the Thai government, in an effort to protect and conserve Thai elephants, who are part of the Asian elephant family classified as an endangered species. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

Nopparat (R), a 24-year-old transgender, and a Buddhist monk (L) wait to speak to officers during an army draft held at a school in Bang Na in Bangkok April 3, 2015. Thai men over 21 must serve in the army. Those who volunteer serve six months, but others choose the annual lottery, which goes on for 10 days in recruitment centres around Thailand. Only those not considered physically capable of service, the mentally ill and those who have significantly altered their physical appearance, such as transgenders, are exempt. Picture taken April 3, 2015. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

Monks take pictures with their mobile phones of the mummified body of a monk at Puzhao temple in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China, January 10, 2016. According to local media, the monk named Fuhou died three years ago at the age of 94 and his remains was placed in a vat and turned into a mummy as a sign of respect. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Young monks play inside the Punakha Dzong, Bhutan, April 17, 2016. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

Picture dated October 2nd, 2022 shows the Northern Lights over Northumberland, United Kingdom. (Photo by Dan Monk/Bav Media)

A Burmese monk feeds the seagulls at a Yangon river jetty February 8, 2012 in Yangon, Myanmar. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Rowan Atkinson poses with Shaolin Monks at the “Johnny English Reborn” world premiere at The Entertainment Quarter on September 4, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)