Rites Around the World

Participants dressed as Vikings pose on their longboat during the annual Up Helly Aa festival
in Lerwick, Shetland Islands on Jan. 29, 2013.

Participants dressed as Vikings march past during the annual Up Helly Aa festival
in Lerwick, Shetland Islands on Jan. 29, 2013.

Members of the 2013 "Jarl Squad" prepare for the annual Up Helly Aa festival which
culminates in the burning of a Viking Galley in Lerwick, Shetland Islands on Jan. 29, 2013.

Members of the 2013 "Jarl Squad" take part in the annual Up Helly Aa festival which
culminates in the burning of a Viking Galley in Lerwick, Shetland Islands on Jan. 29, 2013.

Members of the 2013 "Jarl Squad" take part in the annual Up Helly Aa festival which
culminates in the burning of a Viking Galley in Lerwick, Shetland Islands on Jan. 29, 2013.

Members of the 2013 "Jarl Squad" take part in the annual Up Helly Aa festival which
culminates in the burning of a Viking Galley in Lerwick, Shetland Islands on Jan. 29, 2013.

Hindu priests hold oil lamps as they perform evening prayers on the banks of river Ganges during the "Kumbh Mela", or Pitcher Festival, in the northern Indian city of Allahabad January 17, 2013.

Monks looked up at the magnificent night sky filled with thousands of lanterns in awe. Yi Peng lantern festival is meant as a time for tham bun to make merit.

An Indonesian-Chinese man cleans the Buddha statue in preparation for the Lunar New
Year celebrations in the Satya Buddha Temple in Medan, Indonesia, Jan. 27, 2013.

A worshipper burns incense while offering prayers at the Yonghegong Lama temple
in Beijing, Feb. 8, 2013.

People gather at a Taoist temple in Hong Kong, Feb. 7, 2013.

Visitors look at a display celebrating Chinese lunar new year in Shanghai, Feb. 8, 2013.

In Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand, Feb. 6, 2013.

A man dressed as The God of Wealth poses for a picture next to some Chinese New Year decorations outside a shopping mall in Hong Kong, Jan. 30, 2013.

A man prays at a temple as it snows in Shanghai, Feb. 7, 2013.

At a market in Shanghai, Feb. 6, 2013.

A man dressed as The God of Wealth poses for a picture outside a shopping mall in Hong Kong, Jan. 30, 2013.

A Taiwanese shopper chooses lucky foods for the New Year at the Dihua Street market in Taipei, Taiwan, Feb. 2, 2013.

Hindu holy men of the Juna Akhara sect participate in rituals that is believed to rid them of all ties in this life and dedicate themselves to serving God as a 'Naga' or naked holy men, after taking dips at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna River during the Maha Kumbh festival in Allahabad, India, early Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013.