Indians in traditional attire pose for the media as they practice the Garba, a traditional dance of Gujarat state, ahead of Navratri festival in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, October 9, 2023. The Hindu festival of Navratri, or nine nights, will begin on October 15. (Photo by Ajit Solanki/AP Photo)

A Hindu devotee prepares for Annakut or Goverdhan puja at Naba Brindaban temple in Kolkata on November 14, 2023. Annakut or Govardhan Puja is a Hindu festival in which devotees prepare and offer a large variety of vegetarian food to Lord Krishna as a sign of gratitude for saving them from floods as per Hindu Mythology. (Photo by Avishek Das/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Children dressed as Hindu deities take part in an event to mark the consecration of Ayodhya Ram temple, in Bhopal on January 22, 2024. (Photo by Gagan Nayar/AFP Photo)

A mahout paints his elephant on the eve of the annual Rath Yatra, or chariot procession, outside the Jagannath temple in Ahmedabad, India on June 19, 2023. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

Hindu devotees play with coloured powders during Holi celebrations at the Bankey Bihari Temple on March 21, 2011 in Vrindavan, India. Holi, the spring festival of colours, is celebrated by Hindus around the world in an explosion of colour to mark the end of the winter. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

An Indian bride, sits during a mass marriage of 162 Muslim couples in Ahmadabad, India, Sunday, March 3, 2013. Mass marriages in India are organized by social organizations primarily to help the economically backward families who cannot afford the high ceremony costs as well as the customary dowry and expensive gifts that are still prevalent in many communities. (Photo by Ajit Solanki/AP Photo/LaPresse)

Protesters shield themselves as police beat them with sticks during a violent demonstration near the India Gate against a gang rape and brutal beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus last week, in New Delhi, India, December 23, 2012. The attack last Sunday has sparked days of protests across the country. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Associated Press)

Some 300 girls and women in India still practise open defecation. Over half the country’s population, 800 million people, do not have access to a toilet that meets basic standards. (Photo by Poulomi Basu/WaterAid)