Young girls pose for a photo during the Kumari Puja Ritual on the 9th day of the Durga puja festival at a Pandal (Temporary place for worship) in Kolkata on October 4, 2022. Kumari Puja is an Indian Hindu Tradition mainly celebrated during the Durga Puja according to the Hindu Calendar. The philosophical basis of Kumari Puja is to establish the value of women. Devotees believe it will overcome all barriers, dangers for the young girls in the coming future and also, they will be empowered to handle any stress and obstruction in their coming life. (Photo by Avishek Das/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Ethiopian Orthodox worshippers celebrate the Holy Fire ceremony at the Ethiopian section of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on April 23, 2011 in Jerusalem's Old City, Israel. Hundreds of Orthodox Christians, all from different sects, participated in the ceremony a day preceding Orthodox Easter, and has been celebrated by worshipers for the last 1,200 years. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

An Indian child artisan carries an idol of elephant-headed Hindu God Ganesha at a workshop ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Chennai, India, Saturday, September 7, 2013. Ganesh Chaturthi, which begins from September 9, is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ganesha who is widely worshiped by Hindus as the God of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. (Photo by Arun Sankar K./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)

Indian girl, Amrita Bannerjee, gets dressed as the Goddess Durga, during Kumari Puja ritual as part of the Durga Puja festival at Shidaspur village, far north of Kolkata, India, 30 September 2025. During the Kumari Puja, devotees worship a girl aged between six and twelve, symbolizing the Kanya Kumari (virgin) form of the Goddess Durga Devi. Hindu devotees believe that Kanya is a living embodiment of the goddess Durga. (Photo by Piyal Adhikary/EPA)

A man lies on the floor during a ritual at the Sorte Mountain on the outskirts of Chivacoa, in the state of Yaracuy, Venezuela October 10, 2015. One long night every year in a mountainous rainforest in Venezuela, hundreds gather to dance on red-hot embers, enter trance-like states, and worship an ancient goddess known as Maria Lionza. Those who travel to the mountain known as Sorte in central Venezuela are practitioners of a cult that is built on local indigenous traditions. (Photo by Marco Bello/Reuters)

A Hindu devotee performs a ritual on Bagmati River during Kuse Aunse (Father's Day) at Gokarna Temple in Kathmandu, Nepal September 13, 2015. Hindus all over the country, whose fathers have passed away, come to the temple for worship, holy dips, and to present offerings on this occasion. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

Hindu devotees, their bodies pierced with lemon and paladai, or bowl with a spout mainly used to feed milk to infants, wait to participate in a procession to mark Shivratri, or the night of Shiva, in Chennai, India, Wednesday, February 18, 2015. Such processions are held as an offering and show of devotion by devotees on the day dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction. (Photo by Arun Sankar K./AP Photo)