Photos of the Week: Rath Yatra; Afro-Brazilian spirit

By Kit Doyle · July 12, 2024
 (RNS) — Each week RNS presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo gallery includes the annual Rath Yatra chariot festival, the Afro-Brazilian Ze Pelintra entity and more. People paint decorative motifs on elephants on the eve of the annual Rath Yatra, or chariot procession of Lord Jagannath, at Jagannath temple in Ahmedabad, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) Hindu devotees hold a rope to pull a chariot during the Ratha Yatra, or chariot festival, in Kolkata, India, Sunday, July 7, 2024. The annual procession of the three idols of Hindu deities Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra is taken out in a grand procession in specially made chariots called raths, which are pulled by thousands of devotees. (AP Photo/Bikas Das) Devotees participate in the annual Rath Yatra, or chariot procession, in Ahmedabad, India, Sunday, July 7, 2024. Three idols of Hindu Lord Jagannath, his brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra are taken out in a grand procession in specially made chariots called raths, which are pulled by thousands of devotees. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki) President Joe Biden joins senior pastor Bishop J. Louis Felton during a church service at Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) Exiled Tibetan school girls in traditional costumes eat cakes and sweets as they wait to perform a traditional dance at an event to celebrate the 89th birthday of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, at the Tsuglakhang temple in Dharamshala, India, Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia) An upended tree rests on Bethel Church after Hurricane Beryl moved through the area, July 8, 2024, in Van Vleck, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Jewish settlers pray in the Eviatar outpost in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during morning prayers, calling for the legalization of the outpost and the return of the hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, Sunday, July 7, 2024. Far-right ministers in Israel’s government have said they want to legalize unauthorized outposts in the West Bank in a sweeping expansion of settlements. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) A devotee places a beer as an offering to Ze Pelintra while visiting his sanctuary during celebrations for the entity in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, July 7, 2024. Worshipped in Afro-Brazilian religions, Ze Pelintra is known as the patron spirit of bars and gambling. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado) A devotee dances during Ze Pelintra Day celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, July 7, 2024. Worshipped in Afro-Brazilian religions, Ze Pelintra is known as the patron spirit of bars and gambling. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado) Shiite Muslim worshippers gather for a ceremony marking the Muslim month of Muharram at a mosque in Basra, Iraq, Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani) Bosnian Muslims pray during the mass burial ceremony for 14 newly identified victims of the Srebrenica genocide, at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre, in Potocari, Bosnia, Thursday, July 11, 2024. Thousands gathered in the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica to commemorate the 29th anniversary of Europe's only acknowledged genocide since World War II. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut) Sufi Muslims perform Zikr, or remembrance of God, as they sing Islamic songs during a parade to commemorate the beginning of the Islamic new year, 1446 Hijri, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, July 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) Archival Photos A camel caravan moves toward a remote area of Niger carrying a precious carg — food, in 1974. In caravans sponsored by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, nearly 5,000 camels began plodding in August 1974 from Niamey, Niger, north into Niger’s drought zone over tracks impassable even for four-wheel-drive trucks. A camel can cover 19 to 31 miles a day and carries up to 440 pounds of food supplies. The caravans are accompanied by two armed Niger army camel corp soldiers to guard the precious cargo. Most of the camel owners are of the Tubu tribe, nomads who now have at least temporary employment after years in which they lost large parts of their cattle herds to the drought but managed to keep some of their hardier camels. (RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.) Churchwomen from other lands discuss international programs with officials of the United Church Women, a general department of the National Council of Churches, during the UCW’s tenth national assembly in Kansas City, Mo., in Oct. 1964. Esther Hymer, right, explains features of a special UCW project, “Summer at the Church Center for the United Nations,” which she directed. From left to right are: Esther Coker, assistant secretary of the United Christian Council of Sierra Leone; Mrs. George B. Martin of Summit, N.J., a vice-president of the UCW, and Miss Rachel Thangabelu, a social worker from India. (RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.)
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