What do elaborate butterfly costumes, flying pigments and water hoses have in common? Beyond having the makings of the best water balloon fight in history, these three seemingly disparate elements play an important role in several cultural rites and rituals, serving as stunning cornerstones for Mexico's Day of the Dead celebration, India's Holi festival, and Armenia's Vardavar holiday.
From a Carioca donning plumes of feathers in Brazil's Carnival to a glimpse at a bull jumping ceremony from Ethiopia’s Hamar tribe, here are 22 breathtaking photos of cultural rituals from around the globe
1
Locals participate in a Voodoo Cleansing ceremony in Benin.
2
A performer participates in Brazil’s Carnival festival.
3
Christians participate in a Good Friday pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
4
Men participate in Bulgaria’s Suva festival, in which people sport monster costumes to scare evil spirits away.
5
“Thaipusam festival 2024 at Batu Caves, Malaysia.”
6
A Buddhist monk practices a water blessing in Cambodia
7
Seonyu Julbul Nori, an annual fireworks festival, takes place in Korea
8
Basler Fasnacht, the world’s main Protestant festival, takes place in Basel
9
People throw pigments during Holi, a springtime Hindu festival of colors in India.
10
“An Albanian widow having a ritual dinner with missing husband and 4 sons abducted during Kosovo war!”
11
Participants prepare for Hungry Ghost festival, an East and Southeast Asian celebration in which ghosts are thought to return to Earth.
12
“[Manjal Neerattu, the] Indian ritual of bathing in Turmeric Water.”
13
“Thira - Ritual dance form during temple festival at Kerala, India.”
14
“Kapparot, the Orthodox Jewish custom in which the sins of a person are symbolically transferred to a fowl.”
15
A young man from Ethiopia’s Hamar tribe participates in a coming of age Bull Jumping ritual.
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“Yao tribe boys camouflaged for the initiation rituals that mark the passage from child to adult.”
17
“D[id] you know this jumping dance ritual is called ‘Adumu’ in Maa language | Masai Mara | Kenya.”
18
“Boys during the Rufa`i Sufi mystical ritual in Prizren, Kosovo.”
19
“Theyam, a kind of folk ritual dance from Southern India."
20
“[Photos from] ‘Vardavar’ in Armenia, a day of water, beauty, love, and fertility. Everyone waters each other on this day on the streets in the capital. This is in front of our parliament with firefighters. Vardavar dates back to pegan times, meaning roses rises.”
21
“Day of the Dead in Mexico.”
22
“Surprisingly *not* the KKK, but rather participants in a Semana Santa (Holy Week) festival in Spain. This guy happens to be checking out his smartphone under his hood.”
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