Faith Gallery

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Buddhist monks attend an alms offering ceremony in Bangkok's shopping district May 8, 2011. Buddhist monks, numbering 12,600, according to organisers, attended the ceremony on Vesak Day, the annual celebration of Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death. The event was organized to pay homage to the Lord Buddha and to give moral support to the Buddhist monks and novices from the troubled southern provinces of Thailand. This year marks 2600th anniversary of the Buddha's enlightenment. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj (THAILAND - Tags: SOCIETY RELIGION) - RTR2M4P5

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Devotees take part in a horse ride during "The Braganca Marujada" festivities in Braganca, northeastern Brazil, December 26, 2009. "The Bragana Marujada" appeared in the late 18th century, when 14 slaves received the consent of their masters to organize the Brotherhood of St. Benedict the Black Ghost, as it is called by his devotees, who dance in the streets of the city in gratitude for the achievement. REUTERS/Paulo Santos/Interfoto (BRAZIL - Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY ANIMALS)

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Lightbulbs are tested after they installed between the minarets of Suleymaniye mosque during the installation of mahya in Istanbul August 5, 2010. Mahya, where dangling lights suspended between minarets spell out devotional messages in huge letters, are intended to reward and inspire the faithful who have spent the daylight hours fasting. Today, the tradition unique to Turkey and for which Istanbul's Ottoman-era imperial mosques with their soaring minarets are ideally suited, just a handful of Istanbul's mosques use Mahya; but they are the city's grandest, and the phrases set by Turkey's directorate of religious affairs are legible from afar. Picture taken August 5, 2010. To match Reuters Life! TURKEY-RAMADAN/LIGHTS REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: SOCIETY RELIGION)