▲Muslims offer Eid al-Adha prayers at the Jama Masjid (Grand Mosque) in the old quarters of Delhi, India.

▲Indonesian Muslims pray on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan at Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia.

▲The Dome of the Rock is seen in the background as a Palestinian woman prays on the second Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City.

▲Buddhist monks wait to receive alms during the birth anniversary of Buddha, also known as Vesak Day, at Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal.

▲Sister Marie Fahy reads at her desk in St Mary's Abbey, a Cistercian monastery that is an enclosed contemplative order of nuns in Glencairn, Ireland.

▲Pope Francis arrives at Aglona Basilica in Aglona, Latvia.

▲A young Hindu priest takes a holy bath as part of a ritual during the Janai Purnima, or Sacred Thread, festival at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, Nepal.

▲A wearer of the niqab weeps as she is embraced by a police officer during a demonstration against the Danish face veil ban in Copenhagen, Denmark.

▲A child sits on a doorstep in Dhaka dressed as Lord Krishna during the Janmashtami festival, which marks the anniversary of the birth of Lord Krishna.

▲Devotees offer prayers before taking a holy bath in the Bagmati river at Pashupatinath Temple during the Swasthani Brata Katha festival in Kathmandu, Nepal.

▲Pope Francis gestures during a news conference on board his plane during the flight back from a trip to Chile and Peru.

▲An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man checks an etrog, a citrus fruit used in rituals during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, at a market in the Mea Shearim neighborhood, Jerusalem.

▲Hindu devotees sit together on the floor of a temple to observe the third day of Rakher Upabashin in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

▲Brides display their hands decorated with henna around a bride as she poses for her own photographer during a mass marriage ceremony in which, according to its organizers, 70 Muslim couples took their wedding vows.

▲The full moon is seen as Buddhist monks attend a ceremony on Makha Bucha Day at Wat Phra Dhammakaya in Pathum Thani, Thailand.

▲Catholics take part in the Procession of Silence on Good Friday during Holy Week in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

▲An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boy dressed in a costume takes part in the reading from the Book of Esther, a ceremony performed on the Jewish holiday of Purim, in a synagogue in Ashdod, Israel.

▲A devotee, dressed as Hindu God Shiva, looks out from a window as he waits to perform during the annual Shiva Gajan religious festival on the outskirts of Agartala, India.

▲Penitents of Los Estudiantes brotherhood wait for the start of the procession during Holy Week in Madrid.

▲The owner of an Islamic boarding school for transgender women sits in prayer in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

▲A young boy poses for a portrait during an annual Poy Sang Long celebration, a traditional rite of passage for boys to be initiated as Buddhist novices.

▲A Muslim man sleeps as he covers his face with a traditional cap after attending Jumat-ul-Vida, or the last Friday prayers, inside a mosque, in Ahmedabad, India.

▲A gust of wind blows the Pope's mantel as he greets the Carabinieri after the Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square, Vatican City.

▲Bishops attend a Mass for the canonization of Pope Paul VI and El Salvador's Archbishop Oscar Romero in Vatican City.

▲A member of the congregation lights a candle during a midnight mass vigil at the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God and the Royal Martyrs, London.

▲Choristers from the Salisbury Cathedral Choir have their final practice ahead of the services that will be held in the cathedral marking Christmas.

▲Muslim pilgrims pray around the holy Kaaba at the Grand Mosque, during the annual haj pilgrimage in Mecca.

▲Clergymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate take part in a ceremony marking the 1030th anniversary of the Christianization of the country, which was then known as Kievan Rus', in Kiev.

▲A baby is baptized during a mass baptism ceremony at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi.

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The faithful jump into the waters of the Fasilides Bath as part of a ceremony in which the waters are blessed by the priest of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church during the second day of Timket in Gondar, Ethiopia.

See more: The different ways we pray

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A man rides a horse through flames during the annual Luminarias celebration on the eve of Saint Anthony's Day in the village of San Bartolome de Pinares, northwest of Madrid. Saint Anthony is Spain's patron saint of animals.

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The way we express reverence and adoration for a deity differs greater depending on our customs and our faith. Across the world, our belief in God or gods and how we choose to worship is defined by numerous festivals, rituals, and ceremonies.

Browse the gallery and follow the faithful with this pictorial guide to some of the world's most impressive religious celebrations.