Smiling Bonda tribeswoman wearing traditional beads and earrings, with shaven head and blue shawl, Onukadelli, Odisha, India, Asia

Hindu pilgrim woman with tilaka, bindi mark, nostril ring and yellow facepaint at Vishwanatha Temple (Birla Temple) during Festival of Shivaratri in holy city of Varanasi, India

Indian Hindu couple bathing and praying in the River Ganges by Kshameshwar Ghat in holy city of Varanasi, India

Buddhist monk, Mahagandayon Monastery, Amarapura, Mandalay Division, Myanmar (Burma), Asia

Nuns praying before eating their meals, Sakyadhita Thilashin Nunnery School, Sagaing, near Mandalay, Myanmar, (Burma)

Nuns queuing for a meal, Sakyadhita Thilashin Nunnery School, Sagaing, near Mandalay, Myanmar, (Burma)

A young nun studying, Sakyadhita Thilashin Nunnery School, Sagaing, near Mandalay, Myanmar, (Burma)

Nuns queuing for a meal, Sakyadhita Thilashin Nunnery School, Sagaing, near Mandalay, Myanmar, (Burma)

Nuns praying before eating, Sakyadhita Thilashin Nunnery School, Sagaing, near Mandalay, Myanmar, (Burma)

A young nun at the Sakyadhita Thilashin Nunnery School, Sagaing, near Mandalay, Myanmar, (Burma)

Nuns eating their meals, Sakyadhita Thilashin Nunnery School, Sagaing, near Mandalay, Myanmar, (Burma)

Shaolin monk with symbolic burn marks on his shaven head, Shaolin Monastery, known for Shaolin boxing, Taoist Buddhist mountain, Song Shan, Henan province, China

Shaving the head as part of a religious ritual, performed at Sangam, the confluence of the holy rivers Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati, in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, Asia

Novice monks during the morning bath with a shaving of the head in the Shwe Yaunghwe Kyaung Monastery, near Nyaungshwe, Shan State, Inle Lake, Myanmar, Asia