Novice monk and Vishnu statue, Angkor Wat, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Siem Reap, Cambodia, Indochina, Southeast Asia, Asia

Lindholm Hoje, Viking grave site, near Alborg, Denmark, Europe

Puja ceremony, Everest Base Camp, Solu Khumbu Everest Region, Sagarmatha National Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Nepal, Himalayas, Asia

Puja ceremony, Everest Base Camp, Solu Khumbu Everest Region, Sagarmatha National Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Nepal, Himalayas, Asia

Performers during Inti Raymi Festival of the Sun, Plaza de Armas square, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Cusco (Cuzco), Cusco Province, Cusco Region, Peru, South America

Anubis, Tomb of Nefertari, Valley of the Queens, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Thebes, Egypt, North Africa, Africa

Luxor temple at night, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Thebes, Luxor, Egypt, North Africa, Africa

Eighteen Arhats of Mahayana Buddhism await return of Buddha as Maitreya, Long Quang Pagoda, An Giang Province, Mekong Delta, Vietnam

View of ema (small wooden plaques), Nishikubo Hachiman Shinto Shrine, 5 Chome, Toranomon, Minato City, Tokyo, Honshu, Japan

View of Senso-ji Temple, Asakusa, Taito City, Tokyo, Honshu, Japan

View of Torii Gate at Fushimi Inari Shrine at dusk, Fukakusa Yabunouchicho, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto, Honshu, Japan

Tomb of Job, Old Testament holy man (prophet) for Jews, Christians and Muslims together, Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman, Arabian Peninsula

Flower offerings and a monk at the Buddhist Mahabodhi Mahabihara Temple (Great Stupa), Bodh Gaya, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Bihar, India, Asia

Wall painting of the God Anubis performing the Opening the Mouth Ritual on Pharaoh, Tomb of Nebenmaat, TT219, Deir el-Medina Tombs (Worker Tombs), Thebes, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Luxor, Egypt, North Africa, Africa

Pharaoh Seti I on right, Goddess Hathor on left, Bas Relief, Tomb of Seti I, KV17, Valley of the Kings, Ancient Thebes, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Luxor, Egypt, North Africa, Africa

Itsukushima Jinja, 16th century Shinto shrine, torii gate appears to float at high tide, UNESCO, Miyajimacho, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, Honshu, Japan

Image of Nefertari on left and God Thoth, Paintings and Relief, Tomb of Nefertari, QV66, Valley of the Queens, Ancient Thebes, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Luxor, Egypt, North Africa, Africa

Ring of Brodgar, Neolithic stone circle, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mainland, Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

Traditional Japanese Marriage Ritual at Itsukushima Shinto Shrine on Miyajima Island, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hiroshima Prefecture, Honshu, Japan, Asia

Stone Buddha statue, Borobudur, 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple, UNESCO, Java, Indonesia

Dressed statue in deep forest of Koyasan, Buddhist cemetery of Oku-no-in, Koyasan (Koya-san), Kansai, Honshu, Japan

Flower offerings and devotees in the Cloister Walk of the Buddhist Mahabodhi Mahabihara Temple (Great Stupa), Bodh Gaya, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Bihar, India, Asia

Reliefs, Temple of Opet, Karnak Temple Complex, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Luxor, Egypt, North Africa, Africa

Image of Nefertari, Paintings and Relief, Tomb of Nefertari, QV66, Valley of the Queens, Ancient Thebes, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Luxor, Egypt, North Africa, Africa

Reliefs, Temple of Opet, Karnak Temple Complex, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Luxor, Egypt, North Africa, Africa

Hieroglyphics, Paintings and Relief, Tomb of Nefertari, QV66, Valley of the Queens, Ancient Thebes, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Luxor, Egypt, North Africa, Africa

View of Geisha in Yasaka Jinja Nishiromon Gate (Western Tower Gate) Gionmachi Kitagawa, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, Honshu, Japan

Image of Nefertari, Paintings and Relief, Tomb of Nefertari, QV66, Valley of the Queens, Ancient Thebes, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Luxor, Egypt, North Africa, Africa

Relief of Pharaoh on left and Egyptian God Ra, Tomb of Rameses III, KV11, Valley of the Kings, Ancient Thebes, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Luxor, Egypt, North Africa, Africa

Wall Reliefs, Tomb of Rameses III, KV11, Valley of the Kings, Ancient Thebes, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Luxor, Egypt, North Africa, Africa

Monumental carved doorway and ablutions basin, Karaouiyine Mosque, Fez Medina, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Morocco, North Africa, Africa

Sennefer on right receivng a Ritual, Tomb of Sennefer, TT96, Tombs of the Nobles, Ancient Thebes, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Luxor, Egypt, North Africa, Africa

Entrance to the Dolmen de Menga, a Neolithic ritual site and burial chamber, Antequera, Malaga province, Andalusia, Spain, Europe

Decorated cliff wall at Dogon ritual site, Songo Village, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Bandiagara Escarpment, Dogon Area, Mali, Africa

Ritual bath in the citadel, Mohenjodaro, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Indus Valley civilisation, Pakistan, Asia

The Sanctuary, ancient ritual site from about 2500BC, Avebury, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Monks offer butter lamps. Bodgaya, india. Monks offer butter lamps in front of mahabodhi temple marks site of buddha’s enlightment twenty-five hundred years. centuries have made pilgrimages across himalayas to sites connected with life of historical buddha. From a tantric perspective, pilgrimage is more than paying homage at sacred sites. Rather, it is that activities performed at these places become a memory of place itself. By attuning oneself through ritual meditation to this timeless presence, similar experiences be evoked

Monks offer butter lamps prayer, kalachakra initiation, bodhgaya. India. Monks attending kalachakra initiation at mahaboudhi temple in bodhgaya, india. mahabodhi temple marks site of buddha’s enlightment twenty-five hundred years. centuries have made pilgrimages across himalayas to sites connected with life of historical buddha. From a tantric perspective, pilgrimage is more than paying homage at sacred sites. Rather, it is that activities performed at these places become a memory of place itself. By attuning oneself through ritual meditation to this timeless presence, similar experiences be evoked

Monks offer butter lamps. Kalachakra initiation, bodhgaya. India. Monks attending kalachakra initiation at mahaboudhi temple in bodhgaya, india. mahabodhi temple marks site of buddhas enlightment twenty-five hundred years. centuries have made pilgrimages across himalayas to sites connected with life of historical buddha. From a tantric perspective, pilgrimage is more than paying homage at sacred sites. Rather, it is that activities performed at these places become a memory of place itself. By attuning oneself through ritual meditation to this timeless presence, similar experiences be evoked

Monks offer butter lamps. Bodgaya, india. Monks offer butter lamps in front of mahabodhi temple marks site of buddhas enlightment twenty-five hundred years. centuries have made pilgrimages across himalayas to sites connected with life of historical buddha. From a tantric perspective, pilgrimage is more than paying homage at sacred sites. Rather, it is that activities performed at these places become a memory of place itself. By attuning oneself through ritual meditation to this timeless presence, similar experiences be evoked

Budhist lamas in prayer, bodhgaya, india. Monks attending kalachakra initiation at mahaboudhi temple in bodhgaya, india. mahabodhi temple marks site of buddha’s enlightment twenty-five hundred years. centuries have made pilgrimages across himalayas to sites connected with life of historical buddha. From a tantric perspective, pilgrimage is more than paying homage at sacred sites. Rather, it is that activities performed at these places become a memory of place itself. By attuning oneself through ritual meditation to this timeless presence, similar experiences be evoked

Women praying, Courtyard, Zaouia (tomb) of Moulay Idriss II, medina, Fez. Morocco

Bishop blessing the palms,mass,Palm Sunday.Interior of Basilica Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Monk blessing a woman, in Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Facade of a mosque, is part of Mausoleum of Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco

Monk praying, in Wat Mahathat, Sukhothai Historical Park, Sukhothai, Thailand

Swimming at Cenote Ik Kil in Yucatan, Mexico, a natural pit, or sinkhole near Chichen Itza. Yucatan Peninsula, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Ik Kil was sacred to the Mayans who used this cenote for both relaxation and ritual services centuries ago.

Monk praying, in Wat Mahathat, Sukhothai Historical Park, Sukhothai, Thailand

Cenote Ik Kil in Yucatan, Mexico, a natural pit, or sinkhole near Chichen Itza. Yucatan Peninsula, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Ik Kil was sacred to the Mayans who used this cenote for both relaxation and ritual services centuries ago.

Taichi master and monk demonstrating a ritual sword fight, Tianzhu feng temple, Mount Wudang, Wudang Shan, Taoist mountain, Hubei province, UNESCO world cultural heritage site, birthplace of Tai chi, China

pilgrims burn incense sticks and candles, main hall, fire, red, Wannian monastery and temple, China, Asia, World Heritage Site, UNESCO

Taichi master, monk demonstrates a ritual sword fight, Tianzhu feng, monastery village, below the peak, Wudang Shan, Taoist mountain, Hubei province, Wudangshan, Mount Wudang, UNESCO world cultural heritage site, birthplace of Tai chi, China, Asia

pilgrims burn incense sticks and candles, main hall, fire, red, Wannian monastery and temple, China, Asia, World Heritage Site, UNESCO

Maori ritual site (Marae) at a Tieke Kainga Hut. A canoe trip on the Whanganui River, North Island, New Zealand

Balinese Hinduism, gathering of believers, ceremony, believers in bright temple dress carrying red parasols and shrines, temple tower and in the back the split gate, Candi bentar, Pura Ulun Danu Batur temple, Batur village, Bali, Indonesia, Southeast Asia

Priest with big sword sacrificing water buffalo, Hindu festival Dashain, Gorakhnath temple, Gorkha, Gorkha District, Nepal, Asia

Balinese Hinduism, gathering of believers, ceremony, believers in bright temple dress carrying colourful parasols and shrines, temple tower and in the back the split gate, Candi bentar, Pura Ulun Danu Batur temple, Batur village, Bali, Indonesia, Southeas

Mummy and jars from the time of the Nazca, 200 BC - 700 AD, at Cementerio Arqueologico Chauchillo, Nazca, southern Peru, South America

Balinese Hinduism, gathering of believers, ceremony, believers in bright temple dress carrying shrines, in the back a temple tower, Pura Ulun Danu Batur temple, Batur village, Bali, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Asia

Neolithic ritual place, Ring of Brodgar, Stromness, Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

Neolithic ritual place, Ring of Brodgar, Stromness, Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

Neolithic ritual place, Ring of Brodgar, Stromness, Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

Neolithic ritual place, Ring of Brodgar, Stromness, Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

Neolithic ritual place, The Standing Stones of Stennes, Stromness, Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe

Patan Durbar Square, Lalitpur, Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Offering Dish, A Buddhist Deity, Nepalese New Year Festival, Bahktapur, Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Young people pulling the strings to hoist the mast at the traditional Bisket Jatra Festival in Napalese New Year, Bhaktapur, Nepal