A former living goddess Kumari, center, watches Indra Jatra festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, September 19, 2021.Tens of thousands of devotees packed the old palace courtyard in the heart of Nepal's capital to celebrate Indra Jatra festival Sunday which marks the start of the festival season in the Himalayan nation. (Photo by Niranjan Shrestha/AP Photo)

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)

A devotee of Hindu goddess Kali performs a ritual during the “Bonalu” festival in Hyderabad, India, Sunday, July 28, 2019. Bonalu is a month-long Hindu folk festival of the Telangana region dedicated to Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction. (Photo by Mahesh Kumar A./AP Photo)

An Indian priest worships six-year-old Hindu girl Anushka Chetterjee dressed as the Hindu goddess Durga at a “pandal” for the celebrations of the “Durga Puja” festival in Kolkata on September 28, 2017. The five-day Durga Puja festival, which commemorates the slaying of the demon king Mahishasur by the goddess Durga, marks the triumph of good over evil. (Photo by Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP Photo)

A young Indian girl dressed as Hindu goddess Laxmi participates in a procession to mark “Gudi Padwa”, or Maharashtrian New Year, in Mumbai, in the Indian state of Maharashtra, Friday, April 8, 2016. (Photo by Rajanish Kakade/AP Photo)

People take photos during the Loy Krathong festival which is held as a symbolic apology to the goddess of the river in Chiang Mai, Thailand, November 19, 2021. (Photo by Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

Devotees offer prayer by rolling on the street during the final day of the month-long Swasthani festival of Bhaktapur, near Kathmandu, February 3, 2015. During the festival, devotees recite one chapter of a Hindu tale daily from the 31-chapter sacred Swasthani Brata Katha book, that is dedicated to God Madhavnarayan and Goddess Swasthani, alongside various other gods and goddesses and the miraculous feats performed by them. The devotees also go on pilgrimages to various temples, perform religious rituals, take a holy bath in the rivers and fast for a month, especially among women who believe fasting helps in their family's well-being or in getting them a good husband. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)