The five-day-long Durga Puja festival came to a close on Wednesday with the immersion of idols on 'Vijayadashami' at various water bodies across the country.(HT Photo/Santosh Kumar)
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During the day, women participated in the traditional 'Sindoor Khela' (smearing vermilion on each other's faces) and offered sweets and prayers to the goddess before bidding her farewell for the year.(AFP)
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Sindoor Khela is known as the 'vermillion game', and is celebrated by Bengali Hindu women.(AFP)
Traditionally, this ritual is intended for married women who are expected to follow a defined custom and procedure when doing Sindoor Khela in the belief that it will bring them good luck and long life for their husbands.(ANI)
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Devotees carry an idol of the Hindu Goddess Durga for immersion in a pond during the final day of the Durga Puja festival on the outskirts of Allahabad.(AFP)
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A family takes shelter in a lorry, in Gingle area of Uri. In Uri district, locals remain in distress as they suffer damage to their livelihood. Several shops in the border village have been targeted in Pakistan's shelling across the LoC.
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Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, May 8, 2025. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
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White smoke billows from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel where 133 cardinals are gathering on the second day of the conclave to elect a successor to late Pope Francis, at the Vatican, Thursday, May 8, 2025 . (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
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A damaged portion of Bilal Mosque is seen after it was hit by an Indian strike in Muzaffarabad. The selection of targets was done based on extensive intelligence, primarily due to Pakistan's changing strategies aimed at concealing terror camps.
