A Sadhu or a Hindu holy man carrying his pet monkey walks after taking a dip at the confluence of the river Ganges and the Bay of Bengal on the occasion of “Makar Sankranti” festival at Sagar Island, south of Kolkata, India, January 14, 2017. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

A devotee sits with lighted oil lamps while offering prayers during the “Dashain”, Hinduism's biggest religious festival in Bhaktapur October 3, 2014. Hindus in Nepal celebrate victory over evil during the festival by flying kites, feasting, playing swings, sacrificing animals and worshipping the Goddess Durga as well as other gods and goddess as part of celebrations held throughout the country. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

A Pakistani Hindu woman lights candles during Diwali celebrations at a local temple in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, November 11, 2015. Diwali, the festival of lights, is one of Hinduism's most important festivals dedicated to the worship of Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth. (Photo by K. M. Chaudary/AP Photo)

Indian artists dress up as the Hindu deity “Hanuman” – the monkey God in Hindu mythology – to mark the Rama Navami festival in Bangalore on March 25, 2018. Rama Navami is a spring Hindu festival that celebrates the birthday of the deity Rama. He is particularly important to the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism, as the seventh avatar of Vishnu. (Photo by Manjunath Kiran/AFP Photo)

An Indian man stands dressed like Hindu god Shiva to attract alms from devotees during the Ambubasi festival at the Kamakhya Hindu temple in Gauhati, India, Sunday, June 22, 2014. The annual festival where hundreds of holy men from an esoteric form of Hinduism, gather to perform rituals at the temple begins on June 22. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)

A Hindu devotee offers prayers at the Sangam, the confluence of three rivers – the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, to take a ritualistic bath during Makar Sankranti festival that falls during the annual traditional fair of Magh Mela festival, one of the most sacred pilgrimages in Hinduism, in Prayagraj, India. Friday, January 14, 2022. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

Two holy men with a decorative faces and headdresses, taken in Kathmandu, Nepal. Wandering through the cities and forests of Nepal are the holy men, or Sadhus, who have left all materialistic pleasures behind to live a life devoted to God. Their appearances vary from brightly coloured face paints, and decorations, to minimalistic practical clothing, but they all represent the fundamental values and meanings of Hinduism. Danish photographer Jan Moeller Hansen visited the ancient capital city of Kathmandu between 2013 and 2016 and documented the mysterious holy wanderers. (Photo by Jan Moeller Hansen/Barcroft Images)