← Religion & Culture

Cultural Rituals in Africa

Images of traditional figures in ceremonial attire, representing cultural practices and religious roles within African communities, set against natural landscapes.

A priest holds one of the monastery's ancient illuminated texts.

Palestine is a name given to the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. The region is also known as the Land of Israel, the Holy Land and the Southern Levant. In 1832 Palestine was conquered by Muhammad Ali's Egypt, but in 1840 Britain intervened and returned control of the Levant to the Ottomans in return for further capitulations. The end of the 19th century saw the beginning of Zionist immigration and the Revival of the Hebrew language. The movement was publicly supported by Great Britain during World War I with the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The British captured Jerusalem a month later, and were formally awarded a mandate in 1922. In 1947, following World War II and the Holocaust, the British Government announced their desire to terminate the Mandate, and the United Nations General Assembly voted to partition the territory into a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Jewish leadership accepted the proposal but the Arab Higher Committee rejected it; a

Africa, West Africa, Benin, Ouidah, Temple of the Pythons. Wall mural of man with facial scarification at temple of the pythons in Ouidah, Benin.

Hindu joining hands in Babra village, Maharashtra, India

Surroundings of Thessaloniki, religious Greece Bektashi , 1913 - Balkans - Jean Brunhes and Auguste Léon - (April 23 - June 9) (French - Environs de Thessalonique , Grèce Religieux Bektashi). Religious habit, religious personality, Islam, portrait, hairstyle , headgear, man, Clothing, personality, religion, human beings, Greece, surroundings of Salonica, a Bektashi druid

Priest, Kumbha Shyama Temple, Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, India, Asia

Sudan, south kordofan, Nuba mountain

India, Delhi. Snake Charmer

Ethiopia, Lalibela, Na'Akuto La'Ab church

The Id Kah mosque (Uyghur: Héytgah Meschit, Chinese: Aitígǎěr) is a mosque located in Kashgar, Xinjiang, in the western People's Republic of China. It is the largest mosque in China. Every Friday, it houses nearly 10,000 worshippers and may accommodate up to 20,000. The mosque was built by Saqsiz Mirza in ca. 1442 (although it incorporated older structures dating back to 996) and covers 16,800 square meters. In 1933, on August 9, the Chinese Muslim General Ma Zhancang killed and beheaded the Uighur leader Timur Beg, displaying his head on a spike at Id Kah mosque. In March 1934, it was reported that the uighur emir Abdullah Bughra was also beheaded, the head being displayed at Id Kah mosque. In April 1934, the Chinese Muslim general Ma Zhongying gave a speech at Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar, telling the Uighurs to be loyal to the Republic of China Kuomintang government at Nanjing.

Close-up of African-American mid-adult man wearing traditional African clothing in prayer.

Senior man painting calligraphy on a paper in a temple, Temple Of Literature, Hanoi, Vietnam

Uzbek imam and Muslims in a mosque, Khiva, Uzbekistan, Central Asia, Asia

Snake charmer holding an Egyptian Cobra Morocco

Africa, South Africa, Mpumalanga Province, KwaNdebele, Ndebele tribe, Mabhoko village, King Palace, one of the adviser of the King, Daniel Mjanyelwa Ndimande

Benin, Boukombe, Atakora. HRH Dicegnan, King of the region around Boukombe near the Togo border in north Benin. His distinctive 'crown' would appear to have been made from a cheetah skin.

Portrait of a elder Muslim woman wearing a white veil, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Rabbi Shlomo 1934, Israel

Saudi Arabia, Hail Province, Hail. Man in the Qishlah Palace. (Editorial Use Only)

King Yu Vincent, 92, wearing a traditional robe, Palace of Laikom, Laikom, Northwest Region, Cameroon, Africa

Niger, Agadez, Inebeizguine. A young Wodaabe boy wearing a sword in colorful matching attire.

(French - Ma' an , Arabie ( actuelle Jordanie ) Riche bédouin).

Serbia, Yugoslavia

Grand Master, Pallavicino Castle

They are known, variously, as sadhus (saints, or 'good ones'), yogis (ascetic practitioners), fakirs (ascetic seeker after the Truth) and sannyasins (wandering mendicants and ascetics). They are the ascetic - and often eccentric - practitioners of an austere form of Hinduism. Sworn to cast off earthly desires, some choose to live as anchorites in the wilderness. Others are of a less retiring disposition, especially in the towns and temples of Nepal's Kathmandu Valley. If the Vale of Kathmandu seems to boast more than its share of sadhus and yogis, this is because of the number and importance of Hindu temples in the region. The most important temple of Vishnu in the valley is Changunarayan, and here the visitor will find many Vaishnavite ascetics. Likewise, the most important temple for followers of Shiva is the temple at Pashupatinath. Vishnu, also known as Narayan, can be identified by his four arms holding a sanka (sea shell), a chakra (round weapon), a gada (stick-like weapon) and a

Faithful reading outside a church in Lalibela, Ethiopia, Africa

Muslims attend Jumma prayer during Ramadan at the ShahJalal Dargah Mosque. The country is also in lockdown to combat the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Sylhet, Bangladesh.

Man standing by traditional tea set, Madaba Governorate, Jordan

Istanbul, Turkey. The New Mosque.

Priest praying, blessing, travel offering, bell, sitting beside bride and groom, reportage, traditional wedding, Bali, Indonesia, Asia

Ethiopian Orthodox man reading an old book Addis Abeba Ethiopia

Gurdwara Har Mandir Shahib, Patna, Bihar, India

JOWAI, INDIA - JULY 14: People from the Pnar community attend the Behdienkhlam festival in Jowai, India on July 14, 2025. Behdienkhlam is a vibrant annual festival celebrated by the Pnar (Jaintia) community of Meghalaya, especially in Jowai, to drive away plague and diseases and to pray for a good harvest. Observed in July after the sowing season, it features traditional rituals, offerings to ancestral spirits, and the grand procession of beautifully decorated bamboo structures called rots, which are later immersed in a sacred muddy pool known as Ka Aitnar.

Jordan, Amman. A Jordanian man wearing a typical red and white Arabic scarf or Keffiyeh held in place by a circlet of rope called an agal.

Armed Man Near Yemrehanna Kristos Church, Near Lalibela; Ethiopia

Indian arranging turban, Rajput, Meherangarh, Jodphur, Rajasthan, India, Asia

Worker at Bibi Khanym Mosque Shah-i-Zinda, Uzbekistan, Central Asia (Editorial Usage Only)

Priest, St Gabriel Church, Kulubi, Oromia, Ethiopia, Africa

Meeting of Kolping members in Bungwe, Rwanda. Kolping is a christian German NGO.

Pilgrim at Sera Monastery eats an apple - Lhasa, Tibet

Jew blowing a shofar. 1934, Middle East, Israel and/or Palestine

Gambri guitar player, Kasbah, Tangier, Morocco, North Africa, Africa

Meeting of Kolping members in Bungwe, Rwanda. Kolping is a christian German NGO

Africa, West Africa, Benin, Ouidah, Temple of the Pythons. Wall mural of man with facial scarification at temple of the pythons in Ouidah, Benin.

Mevlana Tekkesi, Mausoleum of Mevlana Jalad ad-Din Rumi, Konya, Turkey, Konya, Turkey, Asia

Jewish man pray at the western wall in Jerusalem, IL

BUDDHIST IN THE MOUNT MOCKSBuddhism in Burma (

Ethiopia, , Lalibela, Portrait Of Ethiopian Christian Priest.

Peregrino camino de Kedarnath, Himalaya Garhwal, Uttarakhand,Uttar Pradesh,India.

Local man with gold at Emerald Palace in Grand Palace in Bangkok Thailand (MR)

An Attendant Inside The Barber's Mosque Reputed To Have Three Hairs Of Mohammed's Beard; Kairouan, Tunisia, North Africa

Arab looking upwards into the future

Tunisia, Tunis, Sidi Bou Said, Jasmine seller and traditional Tunisian doorway

Santeria soothsayer, Plaza de la Catedral, Havana, Cuba

A Lamu woman demonstrates the use of the shiraa, a tent like cloth held up with two sticks, which obscured the face and body of a woman when she ventured outside her home one hundred years ago. Situated 150 miles north -northeast of Mombasa, Lamu town dates from the 15th century AD.

Tibetan holding a Buddhist prayer mill, Zanskar valley, Zanskar, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Himalayas, northern India, India, Asia

Muslim woman in a mosque.

Ethiopia, Amhara Region, Lalibela. Priest carries a tabor (a replica of the Ark of the Covenant) on his head during the annual Timkat Festival of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church which celebrates Epiphany.

Djeddah, Rich Arabia Bedouin , 1918 - Near East, Egypt, Palestine, Cyprus - Paul Castelnau (photographic section of the armies) - (January 9 -October 6) (French - Djeddah , Arabie Riche bédouin). Costume, bedouin, portrait, accessory, weapon, hairstyle , headgear, man, Clothing, human beings, Arabia, djeddah, rich Bedouin

The Iveron monastery, Greece , 1918 - Greece - Fernand Cuville - (September) (French - Le monastère d' Iveron , Grèce). Religious habit, religious personality, Christianity, portrait, monastery, man, Clothing, personality, religion, human beings, Mont Athos, Iviron, the father

Muslim men praying at Gour Emir mausoleum, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Buddhist man at Dashchoilon Khiid Monastery

Orthodox monk in a cave monastry close Wardsia in the south of Georgia.

Sheik of the Dome of the Rock. 1898, Jerusalem, Israel

master craftsman working on a piece of Damascene art in a workshop in downtwon Meknes Meknes, Morocco - 5 March, 2024: master craftsman working on a piece of Damascene art in a workshop in downtwon Meknes Copyright: xZoonar.com/NandoxLardix 21766696

Basotho Ngaka or Chief's Bone Thrower, Basotho Cultural Village, Golden Gate National Park, Free State, South Africa, Africa

Ghana, Northern region, Tamale. A Muslim prays at a Mosque in Tamale during Ramadan.

Es Firo Es Firo, Moors and Christians celebration of victory over the Barbary corsairs of May 11, 1561, Soller, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain Copyright: xZoonar.com/BartomeuxBalaguerxRotgerx 21769432

Woman, 74 years, in typical dress of the Catholic lay organization Legion de Maria, Catholic Church Trinitaria, Parque Central Duarte, La Romana, Dominican Republic, Central America

Imam at Chah-e-Zindeh, or Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

PRIESTS walking with CATHOLIC ANDA (religious float) of JESUS CHRIST in EASTER GOOD FRIDAY PARADE - ANTIGUA, GAUTAMALA

A monk sitting on the stairs to Korzok monastery, Korzok, Ladakh, India, Asia

Orthodox men, Asmara, Eritrea, Africa

Jewish man pray at the western wall in Jerusalem, IL

Dalits at chaityabhoomi to play the homage to Dr. Ambedker on 6th December Dadar Bombay Mumbai Maharashtra India NO MR Copyright: xDinodiaxPhotox

Father Ugo immediately after Sunday mass with the OMG volunteers in Lima. (Photo by: Giulio Paletta/UIG)

Koran reading, Cairo, Egypt, North Africa

Greece, Rhodes, monk in the Artamiti monastery at the road from Agios Isidoros to Embona

An old women in a temple. Cambodia

Iran, Central Iran, Esfahan, Naqsh-e Jahan Imam Square, Royal Mosque, Muslim cleric

Indonesia, Bali. Hindu priest Temple festival ceremony in Indonesia, Bali, near Ubud. (Editorial Use Only)

Portrait of a dervish in front of the Hamed al-Nile grave, at the weekly dervish ceremony, Hamed al-Nile cemetery, Kharthoum, Sudan, Africa

Young African American Man in Traditional African Clothing

Typical Turkish costume at the entrance to Topkapi Palace

Member of the audience listens to President Barack Obama deliver a much anticipated speech to the Muslim world from the conference hall of Cairo University in Egypt June 4, 2009. Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy

Muslim prayer.

Jewish Ethiopian priest at the annual Sigd festival

Mapuche woman, shaman, Bio-Bio region, Chile, South America

Arab figures at Dubai Museum, Dubai, UAE, United Arab Emirates, Middle East, Asia

Spain, Way of St. James, Spiritualist Ivan with lunar calendar in Foncebadon,

Portrait of a sadhu, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, Asia

Mr. Singh Arpal the President of Association, Sikhdharma Gurdwara Singh Sabha Association, Novellara, Reggio Emilia province, Italy

Vietnam, Xuan Thuy National Park, Red River Delta, Ramsar, UNESCO World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve. Giao Thien Commune Nha Boi Buddhist Temple.

Uzbekistan, Samarkand, Shoi Zinda mausoleum, woman, portrait

Olymbos, Good Friday, woman decorating a wooden cross for the epitaph

Friday prayer in Bolo Haouz mosque, Bukhara, Uzbekistan

master craftsman working on a piece of Damascene art in a workshop in downtwon Meknes Meknes, Morocco - 5 March, 2024: master craftsman working on a piece of Damascene art in a workshop in downtwon Meknes Copyright: xZoonar.com/NandoxLardix 21699113

Mother Teresa

Israel, jerusalem, portrait of a rabbi, 1900-10.

Kenya. Muhammad Hisham Kabban, Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council of America, visiting Lamu island during Maulidi.

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