This year, Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia has announced that the pilgrimage to Mecca, begins on November 14. The Ministry of Hajj has a website on which exhaustively itemized all of the planned activities. Hajj literally means “sending in another place.” For any Muslim that place is the holy city of Mecca. Offer you the pictures of Hajj rituals in chronological order.
All posts tagged religion
Sacred river Ganges
Situated on the banks of the river Ganges, Varanasi and Haridwar are considered by all Hindus to be the holiest cities in Hinduism. The Ganges is mentioned in the Rig-Veda, the earliest of the Hindu scriptures. It appears in the Nadistuti sukta (Rig Veda 10.75), which lists the rivers from east to west. In RV 6.45.31, the word Ganga is also mentioned, but it is not clear whether this reference is to the river. Also, people scatter ashes of loved ones here. George Harrison of The Beatles had his ashes scattered in the Ganges by his family in a private ceremony soon after his death.
Buddhist Shrines in Phuket
Here is an article that is a true feast for all travel lovers and people that are interested in learning about other religions but his own. The city of Phuket in Thialand is world known for its numerous temples, shrines and wats. Here are some of the best images that show these temples at their best. Also here you can find some useful information about this place and the way you should behave while visiting this place, because despite the fact that there are many tourists taking photos it is still a sanctuary with monks and it should be respected.
Female circumcision in Indonesia
In honor of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad 284 families in Jakarta, Indonesia , received money for their daughters participating in a mass circumcision. Winner of numerous awards, photographer Stephanie Sinclair visited this ceremony and presents us these moving photos of the scene. 
9-month-old girl waiting for their turn to the procedure of circumcision.
A Trip to Kathmandu
Kathmandu the biggest city and the capital of Nepal is the destination that many tourists visit every year and it is an absolute can’t miss if you’re in this part of the world, because this is a vibrant city that pulses in different rhythms – the rhythm of well kept architecture, Hindu and Buddhist religious temples and fascinating traditions. Here are few photos of photographer Vyacheslav Argenberg that capture the magic of this amazing place, have a look and enjoy, because the image is worth more then a thousand words.
Ritual masks of Africa
Recent interpretation of rituals supplements Émile Durkheim’s views that rituals are formalized and symbolic rites—controlled and repeated behavior in the presence of the sacred—which enact society’s separation of the sacred and the profane. In the work of Edmund Leach and Mary Douglas, rituals constitute a system of symbolic actions that communicate values about society. The Manchester School of Manchester University’s Department of Social Anthropology championed a processual view that interprets rituals as a symbolic mechanism in which form, content, meaning, and a dynamic process guides, confirms, and reorders individual as well social experience and practices. Victor Turner argued that in Ndembu rituals and rites of passage, symbols are employed to stabilize individuals and society, create new social locations, and anticipate transformation by establishing a communitas, or fellowship. Jean Comaroff has argued that rituals reenact the historical and social practices of a community.
