A man dressed as Pothuraju, a mythical character, performs rituals during the Bonalu festival in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, June 30, 2022. 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)

A model, Mousumi Das wearing a traditional Indian saree and holding a Clay face of the Durga idol poses for an Agomoni Concept photoshoot at the Artist hub Kumortuli in Kolkata on August 23, 2025. (Photo by ZUMAPRESS.com/The Mega Agency)

A Malaysian Hindu devotee (C) reacts in a state of trance as she walks towards the Batu caves temple during the Thaipusam festival celebrations in Kuala Lumpur on January 24, 2016. More than a million Hindus celebrate the festival of “Thaipusam” at temples across the country. (Photo by Manan Vatsyayana/AFP Photo)

A Rajasthani man displays his moustache during the closing ceremony of annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan, on November 8, 2022. (Photo by Himanshu Sharma/AFP Photo)

Spot-billed pelican interact on the banks of an artificial lake in Colombo on September 28, 2021. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)

Sümi women gesture as they line up to perform a traditional Sümi rice pounding folk song called “Thishole” during Western Sumi Torimi Hoho Silver Jubilee at Thilixü Village in Chumoukedima district, India north eastern state of Nagaland on June 7, 2023. Altogether 1400 Sülimis perform their traditional rice pounding folk song to mark their 25th Anniversary. (Photo by Caisii Mao/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

In this photograph taken on September 1, 2024, a tea picker shows her hands whilst she reaps leaves at a plantation in Hatton. The backbone of the economy, Sri Lanka's tea pickers are determined to use their powerful vote to choose a president this month who will change grim working conditions for good. The pickers' main political party, the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), are backing the incumbent Wickremesinghe. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)

An Indian Hindu man dressed as Lord Shiva holds a lit candle in his mouth as he takes part in a religious procession ahead of the Maha Shivratri Festival in Jalandhar on February 22, 2017. Hindus mark the Maha Shivratri festival by offering special prayers and fasting to worship Lord Shiva, the lord of destruction. (Photo by Shammi Mehra/AFP Photo)