Photos of the Week: Summer solstice; International Yoga Day

By Paul O'Donnell · June 23, 2023

(RNS) — Each week Religion News Service presents a gallery of photos of religious expression around the world. This week’s photo gallery includes the summer solstice, International Yoga Day and more.

Revelers gather at the ancient stone circle Stonehenge to celebrate the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, near Salisbury, England, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

A bonfire and drumming greet the summer solstice in the village of Okunevo, about 200 kilometers (about 125 miles) northeast of the Siberian city of Omsk, Russia, on Wednesday, June 21, 2023. The festivities of Ivan Kupala, or John the Baptist, are similar to Mardi Gras and reflect pre-Christian Slavic traditions and practices. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Sofiychuk)

Women wearing traditional Russian village clothes applaud while celebrating the summer solstice in the village of Okunevo, about 125 miles northeast of the Siberian city of Omsk, Russia, on Wednesday, June 21, 2023. The festivities of Ivan Kupala, or John the Baptist, are similar to Mardi Gras and reflect pre-Christian Slavic traditions and practices. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Sofiychuk)

Mapuche Indigenous women prepare to commemorate the National Day of Indigenous People as part of celebrations of "We Tripantu," the Mapuche new year coinciding with the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere, at the Original People's Ceremonial Park in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Pilgrims walk at the Hajj terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Saudi Arabia has ambitious plans to welcome millions more pilgrims to Islam's holiest sites. But as climate change heats an already scorching region, the annual Hajj pilgrimage could prove even more daunting. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Relatives mourn as the coffin of Florence Masika, who was killed along with her son Zakayo Masereka by suspected rebels as they retreated from Saturday's attack on the Lhubiriha Secondary School, is buried in Nyabugando, Uganda, Sunday, June 18, 2023. The brutal attack by suspected extremist rebels left at least 42 people dead, most of them students, as security forces stepped up patrols along the frontier with volatile eastern Congo. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

Bishop William J. Barber II gave his retirement sermon at Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where Barber served as senior pastor since 1993, on June 18, 2023. Photo © Bob Karp

People practice yoga during an International Yoga Day event at United Nations headquarters in New York, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. India Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined diplomats and dignitaries at the United Nations for a morning session of yoga, praising it as “truly universal” and “a way of life.” (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)

People participate in a yoga class during the "Times Square: Mind Over Madness Yoga" event, to celebrate International Yoga Day, Wednesday, June. 21, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Hindu holy men display their yoga skills on International Day of Yoga at the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati, Assam, India, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. The holy men from different parts of this northeastern state arrived at the Hindu temple to attend the Ambubachi festival that starts on Thursday. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Archival Photos

Martin Luther King Jr., left, and others pray after being arrested at a voter registration drive in Selma, Alabama, on Feb. 1, 1965. The Nobel Peace Prize winner was among 265 demonstrators arrested on charges of parading without a permit as they walked to the Dallas County Courthouse. Some 500 students who joined the demonstration were also arrested on truancy charges, while 37 adults were seized for contempt of court. Most were released without bail pending arraignment, but King remained in jail than post a $200 bond. RNS archive photo. Photo courtesy of the Presbyterian Historical Society.

A crowd keeps a large ball, painted to represent a world globe, in the air during a gathering at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, to celebrate the summer solstice on June 21, 1967, day one of "Summer of Love." (AP Photo)