Photos of the Week: Buddha’s birthday; Brazilian Cavalhadas

By Kit Doyle · May 24, 2024
 (RNS) — Each week RNS presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo gallery includes annual Buddhist Vesak celebrations, Cavalhadas festival in Brazil and more. People release lanterns during the celebration of Vesak, which marks the day of Buddha's birth, death and enlightenment, at the 9th century Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia, Thursday, May 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Slamet Riyadi) Buddhist monks, in saffron robes, line up to receive alms at a Vesak celebration at Praseth Leu pagoda, northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Hundreds of Buddhist monks and residents gathered to mark Vesak, known locally as Visak Bochea, the holiest day of the Buddhist calendar, which marks the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha on the day of the full moon in May. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith) Devotees unveil a giant canvas of sacred "Thangka" measuring 200 by 40 feet, under the sun during a Vesak celebration in Ipoh, Malaysia, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Vesak, one of the holiest days for Buddhists, offers an opportunity for all followers to come together and celebrate not only Buddha's birthday, but also his enlightenment and achievement of nirvana. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) Shoes worn with "La Morenada" dance costumes are on display for sale ahead of the annual Feast of the Lord of Great Power in La Paz, Bolivia, Wednesday, May 22, 2024. The week-long celebration showcases Andean folklore and starts on May 23. (AP Photo/Juan Karita) The Christ the Redeemer statue is lit up with an image of Pope Francis to mark the launch of his book, "Life: My Story Through History," in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, May 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo) The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College graduated and ordained 11 new rabbis on May 19, 2024, at the Old York Road Temple – Beth Am in Abington, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jordan Cassqay) A horseman wearing a decorative bull mask, attends the Feast of the Divine celebrations at Our Lady of the Rosary Church, as part of the “Cavalhadas” festival, in Pirenopolis, Goias state, Brazil, Saturday, May 18, 2024. The tradition of the Cavalhadas or masked horsemen's festival was brought to Brazil in the 1800s by a Portuguese priest to celebrate the Holy Spirit and to commemorate the medieval victory of Iberian Christian knights over the Moors. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Girls bearing flags take part in the Cavalhadas festival in Pirenopolis, Goias, Brazil, Sunday, May 19, 2024. A Portuguese priest brought the tradition to Brazil in the 1800s to celebrate the Holy Spirit and commemorate the victory of Iberian Christian knights over the Moors. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa visits Gaza City on May 16, 2024. (Photo by Issa Anton/Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem) Archival Photos Actors, churchmen and Southern integration leaders meet in an undated photo to plan their participation in rallies for civil rights legislation at Washington National Airport. The idea was conceived at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom by Dr. Robert W. Spike of New York, second from right, executive director of the National Council of Churches’ Commission on Religion and Race, and Paul Newman. Others shown are, from left, singer Marian Anderson; Roy Wilkins, executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and, at right, actress Faye Emerson. (RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.) Sister Mary Aquinas, aka the Flying Nun, seen here in 1945, is at home at the wheel of an airplane. As a background for her educational work she has piled up 25 ½ hours in the air, doing her flying mostly at the airfield at Manitowoc, Wisconsin, site of the Mother Houser of her order, and at the airport in Washington. (RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.)
Related Stories
Photos of the Week: Francis visits Asia; National Baptists meet
By Kit Doyle
Photos of the Week: Krishna and Teresa birthdays; Arbaeen
By Kit Doyle
Photos of the Week: Shiite pilgrims; DNC protests
By Kit Doyle
Photos of the Week: Assumption of Mary; Bali mass cremation
By Kit Doyle
Photos of the Week: Escalating Mideast tensions; anti-war demonstrations
By Kit Doyle