Rites Around the World

Belarussians in traditional clothing dance around a fire while celebrating Ivan Kupala Night,
a traditional Slavic holiday, marking midsummer. During the celebration, originating in
pagan times, people plait wreaths, jump over fires, and swim.

Iraqi prisoners perform a traditional dance during World Music Day celebrations at a prison in Arbil,
north of Baghdad, on June 21, 2008. World Music Day (Fete de la Musique), introduced by the French
in 1982, takes place every year to coincide with the summer solstice, and has spread to various countries around the world.

A group of Ecuadorean shamans perform the ritual celebrations for the Summer solstice inside
a ring of worshipers at the Chochasqui ceremonial center, 30 miles away from Quito, Ecuador.

Devotees carry a statue of the Hindu elephant god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, for immersion in the sea, on the last day
of "Ganesh Chaturthi", in Mumbai September 14, 2008. Clay statues of Ganesh are made two to three months before this popular religious festival in India. The idols are taken through the streets in a procession accompanied with dancing and singing, to be immersed in a river symbolizing a ritual sendoff on his journey towards his home

A devotee watches an idol of the Hindu elephant god Ganesh, sinking, after it was immersed in the Sabarmati river
on the last day of "Ganesh Chaturthi" in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, September 14, 2008.

People carry earthen water pots as they take part in a Jhulelal Chaliha procession in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad September 6, 2008. Thousands of people took part in the 40 day long fasting festival of the Sindhi community, Jhulelal Chaliha, that ended on Saturday with a colourful procession of earthen pots carried by male and female devotees on their heads.

A Theyyam dancer waits to perform during festivities marking the start of the annual harvest festival of "Onam" in the southern Indian city of Kochi September 2, 2008. The 10-day long festival is celebrated annually in India's southern coastal state of Kerala to symbolise the return of King Mahabali to meet his beloved subjects.

A Hindu woman has her hand painted with henna during the Teej festival in the northern Indian city of Allahabad September 2, 2008. Hindu women fast and pray for the good health and long life of their husbands during the Teej festival.

Indian Hindu devotees pay their respects after pouring milk water onto an idol of Hindu God Lord Krishna at the Shivala temple in Amritsar, on August 24, 2008, on the occasion of the "Janmashtami" festival, which marks the birth of Lord Krishna. Devotional songs and dances mark the celebrations of the festival all over northern India.

Hindu devotees, try to form a human pyramid to break an earthen pot filled with honey, milk and curd, as part of festivities
to celebrate Janmashthmi, or the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna, in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008.

Young Indian devotees of Hindu God Lord Krishna attempt to make a seven-tier human pyramid in the 'dahi-handi' (curd-pot) contest in Mumbai on August 24, 2008, as part of celebrations of "Janmashtami" which marks the birth of Hindu God Lord Krishna. Scores of Hindu devotees of Lord Krishna partake in the dahi-handi celebration during which a large earthenware pot is filled with milk, curds, butter, honey and fruits and suspended from a height of between 20 to 40 feet. Sporting young men and boys come forward to claim this prize by constructing a human pyramid till the pyramid is tall enough to enable the topmost person to reach the pot and claim the contents after breaking it.

A relative sits next to the body at a cremation ground in New Delhi.

Performers dressed as tigers take part in Pulikali, or tiger dance, during festivities in Trichur city, in the southern Indian state of Kerala, September 15, 2008. The ceremony was organised to mark the end of the annual harvest festival, "Onam".

A Hindu priest holds a traditional oil lamp as he performs prayers on the banks of the River Ganges in Allahabad,
India. Allahabad, located on the confluence of the Rivers Ganges and Yamuna, is one of Hinduism's holiest centers.

Quiapo Church, in the Philippine capital of Manila, houses a burned image of Jesus Christ called
the Black Nazarene. On the first Sunday of January each year, more than a million Filipino devotees walk barefoot while parading the image around the church's vicinity. The procession, which often lasts the whole day, is just one of the hundreds of Catholic processions and feasts held in the country throughout the year. The Philippines is the only predominantly Catholic nation in Asia, where an overwhelming 80 percent of the population is Catholic.
Outside Quiapo Church, vendors sell miniatures of the Black Nazarene and other religious images and symbols. It is common to see images of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and various saints displayed in Filipino homes.

Bosnian Muslims perform the "Tarawih" evening prayers on Laylat al-Qadr during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at an Islamic centre in Mostre village near Visoko city, about 35 km from the capital Sarajevo, August 26, 2011. Laylat al-Qadr, or Night of Decree, is the night Muslims believe the Koran was revealed to Prophet Mohammad by the angel Gabriel. Muslims spend Laylat al-Qadr in worship and devotion, praying for the souls of the dead.

Bosnian Muslims pray at the Begova Mosque during the 27th night of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Decree), in downtown Sarajevo, Bosnia, late night on Friday, Aug. 26, 2011. The night is the most important night for prayer in the month of Ramadan, holiest month where Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.

Bosnian Muslim women pray at the Begova Mosque during the 27th night of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Decree), in downtown Sarajevo, Bosnia, late night on Friday, Aug. 26, 2011

Palestinian Muslim worshippers pray during Laylat Al Qadr prayers on the 27th day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in main mosque of Al Emari in Gaza City, Friday, Aug. 26, 2011. Laylat Al Qadr, the most important prayer of the fasting month, is the night Muslims commemorate the revelation of the first verses of the Quran to their prophet Mohammed through the angel Gabriel. Muslims spend the night in worship and devotion, praying for the souls of the dead.

A Pakistani girl prays at a Friday congregation at a local mosque on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in Lahore, Pakistan on Aug 26, 2011.

Syrian women, who live in Amman, Jordan, perform Ramadan special prayers before a rally calling for President Bashar Assad to step down, in Amman, Jordan, Friday, Aug. 26, 2011. Woman at centre bears a Syrian flag upon her head scarf.

A Nepalese Muslim man preforms the Jummat-Ul-Vida, the last Friday prayers, ahead of the Eid al-Fitr festival during the month of Ramadan at the Kashmiri Mosque in Kathmandu

A Thai Muslim boy reads the Quran as he attends the last Friday prayer of the year's holy fasting month of Ramadan at the Central Mosque in the Thai southern city of Pattani