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Three religious festivals were
recorded on film by AFP on Sunday.
Chinese-Indonesians
in Jakarta celebrated “Cap Go Meh,” or the Lantern Festival,
that ended the 15-day Lunar New Year festivities. Official
suppressed for decades, with the end of the Suharto era in 1998,
Indonesia’s ethnic Chinese minority is now allowed to openly
celebrate their cultural and religious practices. (This photo by
Ahmad Zaroni).
On the
outskirts of Tel Aviv, an Israeli girl dressed in traditional
Chinese costume paused as she marched with others through the
streets of Holon, during a parade in celebration of the Jewish
holiday of Purim. Thousands of Israelis took part in this
commemoration of the rescue of Jews from genocide in ancient Persia.
(This photo by David Furst).
In India,
members of The Indian Sikh Punj Pyara hold traditional flags as they
escorted procession of devotees from the Gurudwara Keshgarh Sahib in
Anandpur, some 80 kilometers north of Chandigarh, toward the
annual Hola Mohalla Fair. Hola Mohalla, or Hola Mahalla, or simply
Hola, is a Sikh festival that originated in the time of Guru Gobind
Singh, who held the first of these celebrations at Anandpur in
February 1701. During the three-day festival—which follows the
Hindu festival of Holi—the Sikhs hold mock battles, exhibitions,
displays of weapons, kirtan, music and poetry competitions. Nihang
Sikh “warriors” perform Gatka (mock encounters with real
weapons), and other feats including bareback horse-riding.
(This photo by
Narinder Nanu).
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