This religious festival (Taoism) starts in the morning and continues until night. The procession moves from temple to temple and there are many cars and vans like this, where small bands, composed mostly by women and children, rhythmically playing music for the ritual.
Here it's shown an important gesture of this ceremony. The shirtless man you see is the priest of the temple, and every group or person who came, had to obtain his blessing and respect by a bow. This was an important step of the ceremony that has been repeated throughout the entire duration of the procession.
Another key part of the ceremony: several groups of men, after carrying on their shoulders these types of small shrines, once there in front of the temple, incited by the screams of the audience and accompanied by the constant music (and blessed by the customary bow of the "priest"), they performed one at a time in this exhausting ritual.
Religious festival (Taoism) in a small village in the south of Taiwan. This man, wearing a mask for protection, was performing a kind of special dance through the many explosions of the firecrackers on the ground. Surely an impressive ritual.
A bunch of guys busy to "control" one of the many elephants during a Hindu festival. I just hope that these chains are temporary.
An alley near an Hindu temple, during a religious festival. The women of the town are cooking rice to offer to a God. A road certainly very fragrant.
In the Indian culture and tradition, rituals are almost daily. Being mostly connected to the Hindu religion, there is always a different God to venerate or thank. These noisy and colorful rituals are always celebrated with great participation... drums and flowers are always protagonists.
A group of drummers in a Hindu festival. In order to accompany the passage of an elephant all decorated with gold, they began to dance and play energetically .. you could see and feel the adrenaline of the musicians.
During the Holi Festival, on the streets you will be constantly stopped to to be totally painted with colored powders. At the end of the day you'll find yourself with face and clothes covered by many different colors... all beautiful and very bright.