Ultra-Orthodox Jews stand next to bonfires during Lag Ba'omer celebrations to commemorate the end of a plague said to have decimated Jews in Roman times, in Bnei Brak, Israel, on May 9, 2012.

A young boy watches a bonfire burn as Orthodox Jews of the Satmar Hassidim dance and celebrate the Jewish holiday of Lag Ba'omer in the village of Kiryas Joel, Orange County, New York, on May 9, 2012.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boys sit in front of girls and women as they look at a bonfire lit on the Jewish holiday of Lag Ba'omer in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood on May 9, 2012.

Men of the Orthodox Jewish Satmar Hassidim crowd the steps of a synagogue (backround) as women of the sect stand in a separate area (front) as they celebrate Lag Ba'omer in the village of Kiryas Joel, New York, on May 9, 2012.

An ultra-Orthodox woman prays during traditional festivities for Lag Ba'omer near the grave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on Mount Meron in northern Israel on May 10, 2012.

Belarus soldiers plunge into the ice cold water to mark Orthodox Epiphany near the town Pukhovichi, some 70 km south of the capital Minsk, on Jan. 19, 2012.

A Russian Orthodox church believer takes a dip in the ice cold water marking Epiphany church holiday outside St.Petersburg, Russia, Jan. 19, 2012.

An Orthodox priest walks near a bathing hole made for Epiphany celebrations in a pond in Moscow's Kolomenskoe Park Jan. 19, 2012.

Children watch, from behind a fence, the Deopokhari festival in Khokana, Kathmandu, Nepal, on Aug. 15.

People compete to grab a goat which was earlier thrown into a pond as part of the Deopokhari festival in Khokana on Aug. 15.

Revelers prepare for the Festa da Bugiada, a traditional folk event held annually to celebrate St. John, in Sobrado, Valongo, Portugal on June 24. The Festa da Bugiada is an ancient tradition which unfolds in the form of a struggle between Moors and Christians, known locally as Mourisqueiros and Bugios.

Revelers perform down the street in the Festa da Bugiada in Portugal on June 24.

A festive mask is worn by a reveler in the Festa da Bugiada in Portugal on June 24.

"Children of mud", devotees with their bodies covered in mud and wearing banana leaves, attend a mass during a religious festival in Aliaga, north of Luzon, the Philippines, on June 24. Hundreds of devotees marking the feast of St. John the Baptist attended the annual religious festival.

A Catholic man rubs mud on his son's body prior to attending a holy mass to mark the 'Taong Putik' (Mud People) Festival and the feast of St. John the Baptist in Bibiclat, the Philippines on June 24. Devotees cover themselves in mud and leaves as part of a more than 100-years-old ritual to honor their patron saint and to ask for favors through prayer.

A girl prays inside the house of San Juan, the patron saint of Ocumare de la Costa, on the eve of San Juan Day in the central state of Aragua June 23, 2011. This year's start of San Juan Day celebrations coincides with celebrations for the Catholic festival of Corpus Christi, when people dressed as colourful devils dance on coastal towns before praying in front of churches.

A woman wearing an fish mask dances during the celebrations of the Catholic Corpus Christi in Naiguata, Venezuela, Thursday, June 23, 2011. Spanish conquerors and Catholic priests presented dancing devils ceremonies to Latin America's African slave population 200 years ago, who adopted them incorporating drums.

A person dressed as a dancing devil walks on his knees to give thanks for a miracle during a traditional dance celebration in Naiguata, Venezuela, Wednesday June 22, 2011.

Muslim women offering prayers cast their shadows on a bus at a pilgrims' camp on the outskirts of Ajmer, India, on June 9, during the annual Urs festival at the shrine of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti. The Urs is observed by hundreds of thousands of worshippers to mark the anniversary of the death of the saint, known for his philosophy on religious tolerance.

A Muslim girl dries a shawl from the top of a bus after offering prayers at a camp for pilgrims on the outskirts of Ajmer on June 9 during the annual Urs festival at the shrine of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti.

A vendor sells tea to pilgrims at a park during the annual Urs festival near the shrine of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti on June 10.

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish boy protects his face from the heat as religious Jews gather and burn their 'chametz,' or products containing leavening agents, in the Mea Shearim neighbourhood of Jerusalem, Israel on April 18, prior to the start of the high holiday of Passover this evening. Religious Jews thoroughly clean their homes of all traces of leavening agents and then burn what little remains prior to passover, which commemorates the Israelites' exodus from ancient Egypt.

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man reads a prayer with one of his sons after they threw the remainder of the leavened products into a fire as they burn their 'chametz,' in the Mea Shearim neighbourhood of Jerusalem, Israel on April 18.

People throw vermillion powder on one another to celebrate the Nepali New Year, lso known as "Sindoor Jatra" at Thimi, near Kathmandu, Nepal on April 15.

Nepalese people sing and dance to traditional music and smear vermillion powder as they carry chariots of Hindu gods and goddesses during the Bisket Jatra festival in Thimi, in the outskirts of Kathmandu, on April 15. The traditional Bisket Jatra festival is celebrated during the Nepali New Year.

People throw vermillion powder on one another and play traditional drums to celebrate the Nepali New Year in Kathmandu on April 15.

Local residents watch as chariots pass during the Bisket Jatra festival in Thimi, in the outskirts of Kathmandu, on April 15.

Thais dressed in Lanna (northern) traditional costumes douse each other with water to celebrate Songkran in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand on April 12.

A Thai boy uses a water pistol to splash water on a foreign tourist to celebrate Songkran, also known as water festival in Bangkok, Thailand, 12 April 2011. The three-day Songkran festival is celebrated in Thai traditional as New Year's day with spraying water and putting powder on each others faces as a symbolic sign of cleansing and washing away the sins from the old year.

Men daubed in colours celebrate Lathmar Holi, also known as the Festival of Colours, at Barsana in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on March 14. This tradition heralds the beginning of spring and is celebrated all over India.

Carnival revellers carrying illuminated and decorated canvas lanterns march to the tunes of drummers and piccolo players in a parade through the streets of Basel, Switzerland early on March 14. The Morgenstreich parade traditionally kicks off three days of events marking the Basel carnival.