A teacher instructs a group of people how to recite Buddhist chants, Minh Dang Quang Buddhist Temple, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Indochina, Southeast Asia, Asia

A young sadhu reads holy scripture near fire. Worship is part of daily life. Some sadhus chant mantras. gayatri mantra is of several mantras that sacred incantations or mystical formulas of ancient literature. gayatri mantra given by brahma mentioned in rigveda is named after consort of brahma: o that glory- of savitri most high. Oh divine us mediate upon. it inspire understanding. goal of recitation is to attain realization. Practice lead mind into a transcendental union with deity.Pashupatinath, kathmandu, nepa

Cambodia seedlings of hope hospice for aids patients, phnom penh. woman saying buddhist chants to another who is dying of aids

Cambodia seedlings of hope hospice for aids patients, phnom penh. woman saying buddhist chants to another who is dying of aids

Prayer ceremony in Pusa Ding monastery, yellow cap monks, Wutai Shan, Five Terrace Mountain, Buddhist Centre, town of Taihuai, Shanxi province, China

Prayer ceremony in Pusa Ding monastery, yellow cap monks, Wutai Shan, Five Terrace Mountain, Buddhist Centre, town of Taihuai, Shanxi province, China

Hands holding a hymn book at a church service, Garoua, Cameroon, Africa

Hymn book, during a church service, Madang, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia

Necklace cross holy book

Historical hymnbook, Cistercian convent Abbazia di Staffarda near Saluzzo, Piemont, Italy

Elderly woman turning the pages of a hymnal, Sehitwa, Botswana, Africa

Hands holding a hymn book at a church service, Garoua, Cameroon, Africa

Woman's hands and hymnal, Sehitwa, Botswana, Africa

Elderly woman turning the pages of a hymnal, Sehitwa, Botswana, Africa

The Kollegiatstift Neumuenster collegiate church, Wuerzburg diocese, Kardinal-Doepfner-Platz square, Wuerzburg, Bavaria, Germany, Europe

Elderly woman turning the pages of a hymnal, Sehitwa, Botswana, Africa

Groups of dancers and musicans are celebrating timkatTimkat cerimony of the ethiopian orthodox church, Timkat procession is entering the jan meda sports ground in Addis Ababa, where the three day cerimony takes place, Timkat is also the celebration of the baptism of Jesus, for this purpose sacred water is distributed, Africa, East Africa, Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Africa, East Africa, Ethiopia, Addis Ababa

Every Friday dervishes gather an hour before sunset in front of Sheikh Hamed al-Nil tomb in Omdurman, Sudan to perform a ritual called Zikr (Dhikr). The ceremony starts chanting words of gratitude to the Prophet Mohammed. The audience interacts with the chanters, dancing to the rhythms of the percussion instruments. The dervishes start whirling around. The music, the fragrance of burning incense, the endless repetition of religious chants creates a state of ecstasy, a kind of trance in which human soul is believed to communicate directly with God.

Shanabla men dance and chant at a wedding celebration near El Obeid, Sudan. A nomadic tribe they raise camels.

Schoolboys chant and carry banners to the shrine in the Panjshir Valley of the famous Tajik commander, Ahmad Shah Masood, on the one year anniversary of his assasination, September 9 2002. Masood was a revered mujahedin leader who also was one of the leaders of the Northern Alliance which opposed the Taliban and helped the US Military in their defeat. Masood was assasinated by what are thought to be Al Queda operatives on Sept. 9, 2001. A shrine has been erected in the Panjshir Valley from where he led much of his resistance to both the Soviet and Taliban forces, to honor this latest of Afghan war heros.

Every Friday dervishes gather an hour before sunset in front of Sheikh Hamed al-Nil tomb in Omdurman, Sudan to perform a ritual called Zikr (Dhikr). The ceremony starts chanting words of gratitude to the Prophet Mohammed. The audience interacts with the chanters, dancing to the rhythms of the percussion instruments. The dervishes start whirling around. The music, the fragrance of burning incense, the endless repetition of religious chants creates a state of ecstasy, a kind of trance in which human soul is believed to communicate directly with God.

Close-up upward view of hula woman wearing ti-leaf skirt, plumeria haku and lei blue sky ocean

Hula dancer performing with drummer on beach at sunrise in background Hawaii

India, Bihar, Bodhgaya, Large group of seated, young Buddhist monks chanting and reading prayers at a ceremony in the grounds of the Mahadbodhi Temple.

Hand crafted and painted door in Buddhist Monastery, Sikkim, India