Worshippers burned aromatic incense sticks beneath red and yellow paper lanterns to celebrate the Lunar New Year outside a famed Taoist temple in Hong Kong.
A holy man lay on the ground before an image of the Hindu goddess of learning during the Magh Mela festival in Prayagraj, India, where ritual bathing in the sacred confluence of rivers can cleanse one’s sins.
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Worshippers burned aromatic incense sticks beneath red and yellow paper lanterns to celebrate the Lunar New Year outside a famed Taoist temple in Hong Kong.
February was a month full of religious holidays and festivals for all manner of faith traditions, as captured by AP photographers around the globe.
Others donned full-body protective gear, such as the Jewish burial society workers who prepared the corpse of a COVID-19 victim for funeral in Jerusalem, or the Rhode Island field hospital employee who took a moment away from her duties to pray for a sick grandfather far away in Puerto Rico.
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A Hindu Holy man lies in front of an image of Hindu Goddess of learning Saraswati, at Sangam, the sacred confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, during Magh Mela festival, in Prayagraj, India. Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. Hindus believe that ritual bathing on auspicious days can cleanse them of all sins. (AP PhotoRajesh Kumar Singh)
Kashmiri Muslims raise their hands and pray as the head priest, unseen, displays a relic believed to be a hair from the beard of the Prophet Mohammad during special prayers on the death anniversary of Abu Bakr Siddiq, the first Caliph of Islam, at Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (AP PhotoMukhtar Khan)
And a churchgoer in Mexico City cradled a figure of the Christ child in his arms while waiting in a chapel pew to have it blessed on the Roman Catholic feast of Candlemas, commemorating the presentation of Jesus Christ into the Temple.
A Nepalese devotee writes her name on a Saraswati temple, with the belief that writing on the wall of a Saraswati temple on this day imparts knowledge, during Shri Panchami festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. Shri Panchami, or Saraswati Puja, is a day for students to worship Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and learning. Young children are also given their first reading and writing lesson on this day. (AP PhotoNiranjan Shrestha)
February was a month full of religious holidays and festivals for all manner of faith traditions, as captured by AP photographers around the globe.
Many rites, traditions and observances continue to be affected by the coronavirus pandemic, more than a year after the disease was first identified.
On the Catholic holy day of Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of Lent, everyone from a uniformed New York police officer to Mass attendees at St. Joseph Cathedral in Hyderabad, India, could be seen with not only the traditional cross-shaped smudges on their foreheads but also face masks.
The new head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije, seated back left, performs the liturgy ceremony in Belgrade's Congregational church, Serbia, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021. Patriarch Porfirije replaces Patriarch Irinej, who died in November 2020 from COVID-19 complications. (AP PhotoDarko Vojinovic)
Others donned full-body protective gear, such as the Jewish burial society workers who prepared the corpse of a COVID-19 victim for funeral in Jerusalem, or the Rhode Island field hospital employee who took a moment away from her duties to pray for a sick grandfather far away in Puerto Rico.
Elsewhere the pandemic’s impact manifested itself in absence: In Belgrade, Patriarch Porfirije, the new head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, celebrated the Divine Liturgy surrounded by clergy in an ornate chamber after his predecessor, Patriarch Irinej, died in November of complications from the virus.
These and more are among the AP’s top faith-related images from February.
Priestess Laura D'Oya Yalorixa, center, takes part in an Umbanda religious ceremony at the Casa de Caridade Santa Barbara Iansa temple in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. The faithful of the Umbanda religion, brought to America by West African slaves, perform spiritual protection rituals as part of pre-Carnival traditions. (AP PhotoBruna Prado)
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Muslim men gather to pray during a protest against Police lack of enforcement and recent rise in violence Arab communities in the northern Arab Israeli town of Umm el-Fahm, Israel, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. More than 2,000 people protested outside the local police station, and blocked main roads in the area. (AP PhotoAriel Schalit)
A Hindu Holy man lies in front of an image of Hindu Goddess of learning Saraswati, at Sangam, the sacred confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, during Magh Mela festival, in Prayagraj, India. Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. Hindus believe that ritual bathing on auspicious days can cleanse them of all sins. (AP PhotoRajesh Kumar Singh)
Kashmiri Muslims raise their hands and pray as the head priest, unseen, displays a relic believed to be a hair from the beard of the Prophet Mohammad during special prayers on the death anniversary of Abu Bakr Siddiq, the first Caliph of Islam, at Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. (AP PhotoMukhtar Khan)