Devotees
hang by a crane as they immerse an idol of the Hindu elephant god Ganesha, the
deity of prosperity, in the waters of the Sabarmati River on the last day of
the Ganesha Chaturthi festival in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad September
29, 2012. Ganesha 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. (INDIA - Tags:
RELIGION SOCIETY IMAGES OF THE DAY)
A mahout sits in between
elephants which are participating in festivities marking the annual
harvest festival of Onam at a temple on the outskirts of the southern
Indian city of Kochi August 29, 2012.
Indian
Hindu devotees form a human pyramid to break the dahi-handi, curd-pot,
suspended in the air during celebrations of Janmashtami, which marks the birth
of Hindu God Lord Krishna, Mumbai on August 10, 2012. Hindu men and boys
receive prize money by constructing a human pyramid till it is tall enough to
enable the topmost person to reach the pot and claim the contents after
breaking it.
A Hindu priest sits in a cauldron of water and makes offerings to a fire while performing the "Parjanya Varun Yagam", a special prayer for rain, in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad July 1, 2012. Hindus believe the prayer appeases the god Varuna, who favours them with rain if the ritual is performed.
