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A month of holy days and festivals, amid pandemic


Nepalnews
2021 Mar 02, 12:57,
A Nepali 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, February 16, 2021. (Photo via AP)

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.

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.

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.

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.

A Nepali 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, February 16, 2021. (Photo via AP)
A Nepali 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, February 16, 2021. (Photo via AP)
A man waits to have his Baby Jesus figure blessed with holy water at Purification of Our Lady of Candlemas Chapel in Mexico City, Tuesday, February 2, 2021. (Photo via AP)
A man waits to have his Baby Jesus figure blessed with holy water at Purification of Our Lady of Candlemas Chapel in Mexico City, Tuesday, February 2, 2021. (Photo via AP)
Snow covers the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, Thursday, February 18, 2021. (Photo via AP)
Snow covers the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, Thursday, February 18, 2021. (Photo via AP)
Worshippers gather around candles stuck to jars of honey, arranged as a cross, during mass for the 'sanctification of honey' at the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin church in the town of Blagoevgrad, south of the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, Wednesday, February 10, 2021. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Bulgarian 
Orthodox Church marks the day of St Haralampus, Orthodox patron saint of bee-keepers, by performing a ritual for health and rich harvest. (Photo via AP)
Worshippers gather around candles stuck to jars of honey, arranged as a cross, during mass for the 'sanctification of honey' at the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin church in the town of Blagoevgrad, south of the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, Wednesday, February 10, 2021. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Bulgarian Orthodox Church marks the day of St Haralampus, Orthodox patron saint of bee-keepers, by performing a ritual for health and rich harvest. (Photo via AP)
The Rev James Coleman, 70, finishes receiving his first COVID-19 vaccination by nurse practitioner Ifreke Udodong, at United Medical Centre in southeast Washington, February 10, 2021. (Photo via AP)
The Rev James Coleman, 70, finishes receiving his first COVID-19 vaccination by nurse practitioner Ifreke Udodong, at United Medical Centre in southeast Washington, February 10, 2021. (Photo via AP)
Workers from 'Hevra Kadisha', Israel's official Jewish burial society, get dressed in full protective gear to prepare a body for a funeral procession, at a special morgue for people who died from COVID-19, during a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, in Jerusalem, Tuesday, February 2, 2021. (Photo via AP)
Workers from 'Hevra Kadisha', Israel's official Jewish burial society, get dressed in full protective gear to prepare a body for a funeral procession, at a special morgue for people who died from COVID-19, during a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, in Jerusalem, Tuesday, February 2, 2021. (Photo via AP)
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, February 5, 2021. More than 2,000 people protested outside the local police station, and blocked main roads in the area. (Photo via AP)
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, February 5, 2021. More than 2,000 people protested outside the local police station, and blocked main roads in the area. (Photo via AP)
An elderly pilgrim prays after a holy dip at the Sangam in Prayagraj, India, Thursday, February 11, 2021. (Photo via AP)
An elderly pilgrim prays after a holy dip at the Sangam in Prayagraj, India, Thursday, February 11, 2021. (Photo via AP)
Priestess Laura D'Oya Yalorixa, centre, takes part in an Umbanda religious ceremony at the Casa de Caridade Santa Barbara Iansa temple in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, February 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. (Photo via AP)
Priestess Laura D'Oya Yalorixa, centre, takes part in an Umbanda religious ceremony at the Casa de Caridade Santa Barbara Iansa temple in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, February 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. (Photo via AP)
Unit secretary Wildaliz Perez, takes a moment to pray for a sick grandfather in Puerto Rico, not from COVID-19, during a shift at a field hospital set up to handle a surge of COVID-19 patients Wednesday, January 6, 2021, in Cranston, Rhode Island. (Photo via AP)
Unit secretary Wildaliz Perez, takes a moment to pray for a sick grandfather in Puerto Rico, not from COVID-19, during a shift at a field hospital set up to handle a surge of COVID-19 patients Wednesday, January 6, 2021, in Cranston, Rhode Island. (Photo via AP)
An NYPD officer receives ashes at St Patrick's Cathedral after Ash Wednesday Mass, Wednesday, February 17, 2021, in New York. (Photo via AP)
An NYPD officer receives ashes at St Patrick's Cathedral after Ash Wednesday Mass, Wednesday, February 17, 2021, in New York. (Photo via AP)
The new head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije, seated back left, performs the liturgy ceremony in Belgrade's Congregational church, Serbia, Friday, February 19, 2021. Patriarch Porfirije replaces Patriarch Irinej, who died in November 2020 from COVID-19 complications. (Photo via AP)
The new head of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Porfirije, seated back left, performs the liturgy ceremony in Belgrade's Congregational church, Serbia, Friday, February 19, 2021. Patriarch Porfirije replaces Patriarch Irinej, who died in November 2020 from COVID-19 complications. (Photo via AP)

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