(RNS) — Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo selection includes kite-flying Makar Sankranti celebrations in India, the canceled Black Nazarene procession in the Philippines and more.
A vendor winds strings for kites ahead of the Hindu festival of Makar Sankranti, in Hyderabad, India, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021. Kites are flown in many parts of India during the festival, which marks the transition of winter to spring. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
Indians fly kites during Makar Sankranti festival in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. Kites are flown in many parts of India during the Hindu festival that marks the transition of winter to spring. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
Tamil women cook food for the harvest festival of Pongal at Dharavi, one of the world’s largest slums, in Mumbai, India, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. This Hindu celebration, held according to the solar calendar, marks the beginning of the sun’s northward movement and is considered to be auspicious. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
A group of Hindu pilgrims sing devotional songs on the bank of Hooghly River to mark Makar Sankranti, in Kolkata, India, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021. Makar Sankranti marks the transition of winter to spring. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
People pray outside Hasan Anani mosque to protect against the spread of the coronavirus, in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Honor guard soldiers walk by graves before the funeral of Iancu Tucarman, at a Jewish cemetery in Bucharest, Romania, Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. Tucarman, one of the last remaining Holocaust survivors in Romania, was buried after dying from COVID-19 last week at the age of 98. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Workers from “Hevra Kadisha,” Israel’s official Jewish burial society, prepare a body before 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 the central Israeli city of Holon, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Thousands of Catholic devotees line up as they celebrate the feast day of the Black Nazarene, at the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, in downtown Manila, Philippines, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. Hundreds of church workers and police were spread around the area to maintain order and enforce strict social distancing health protocols. The annual procession, one of Asia’s biggest religious events, was cancelled amid the threat of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. (AP Photo/Gerard Carreon)
A devotee of the Black Nazarene wears a mask with the faces of Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary as he prays outside the Quiapo church in downtown Manila, Philippines, Friday Jan. 8, 2021. The annual January 9 procession, attended by tens of thousands of devotees, was canceled amid the threat of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Several Black Nazarene replicas have been placed around churches as the government asks devotees to pray at their communities instead of going to downtown Quiapo, where the original image resides. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Health workers in protective attire prepare for a coronavirus vaccine drill in Bali, Indonesia, on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. Indonesia’s highest Islamic body gave its religious approval for China’s Sinovac vaccine, paving the way for its distribution in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, center, waves from a wheelchair upon arrival at the Al Mukmin Islamic Boarding School where he resides in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia, Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. The firebrand cleric ,who inspired the Bali bombers and other violent extremists, walked free from prison Friday after completing his sentence for funding the training of Islamic militants. (AP Photo)