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 mahout rides on an elephant in the city of Amritsar, India, 08 November 2015. Such elephants are often accompanied by their caretakers who ask for alms from people in the streets. (Photo by Raminder Pal Singh/EPA)

Marine biologist Simon Pierce, who studies whale sharks, happened to be in the right place at the right time to capture amazing photo off Cancun, Mexico. (Photo by Simon Pierce/Mercury Press/Caters News)

A bride looks on as she and others wait to take their wedding vows during a tribal mass marriage ceremony, in which 1101 couples took part, on the outskirts of Mumbai, India, February 17, 2019. (Photo by Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters)

Hirunika Premachandra, a politician and a leader of Samagi Vanitha Balawegaya, a part of the main opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya, hugs a female police member during a protest near Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's private residence, amid the country's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka on June 22, 2022. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

Hindu devotees light “Diyas” (earthen lamps) on a Rangoli, a framework of decorated pattern, as part of Diwali festivities in a temple premises in Dhaka, Bangladesh on November 12, 2023. The festival takes place every year in accordance with the Hindu lunar calendar. The word “Diwali” is derived from the Sanskrit word “Deepavali”, meaning series of lighted lamps; hence, it is also known as the festival of lights. Diwali is typically celebrated by socializing and exchanging gifts with family and friends. Many light oil lamps or candles to symbolize a victory of light over darkness, and fireworks are set off as part of the celebrations. (Photo by Joy Saha/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A dancer performs a fire breathing act during a procession to mark the 669th anniversary of the birth of Hindu Guru Bawa Lal Dayal in Amritsar on February 9, 2024. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers offer sweet to each other during the celebrations to mark country's Republic Day at the India-Pakistan Wagah border post, about 35kms from Amritsar on January 26, 2025. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)