Rites Around the World

Devotees celebrate the Buddhist festival which marks the victory of Sakyamuni Buddha over Mara, by praying for the souls of departed family members and holding parades throughout the city. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar

Janamashtmi is the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna which will be celebrated on August 10.

Around 150 children received their first holy communion during a mass organized by a local radio station.

During the Easter holy celebration called 'Misteri' (mistery) in Trapani, the devotees carry the scenes of Christís passion on their shoulders all night long. When the day comes they take a break.

The three-day festival, commemorating the union of the Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva, involves sumptuous feasts and rigid fasting. Hindu women pray for marital bliss, the well-being of their spouses and children, and the purification of their own bodies and souls during this period of religious fasting.

Ganesh idols are taken through the streets in a procession accompanied by dancing and singing and later immersed in a river or the sea symbolising a ritual seeing-off of his journey towards his abode, taking away with him the misfortunes of all mankind.

Archaeologists and experts in Mayan culture are racing against time to prove that despite the approaching end of that civilization's calendar, the end of the world is not coming. Many agree that Dec. 21, 2012 is the end of the 13th Baktun, a measure of 394 years that the Maya used, and the rebirth of a new era.

Saint Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals and the environment.

Ganesh idols are taken through the streets in a procession accompanied by dancing and singing and later immersed in a river or the sea symbolising a ritual seeing-off of his journey towards his abode, taking away with him the misfortunes of all mankind.