UIG798249: Goats are sacrificed from midnight till early morning at Tildanga, Chalna, Khulna, on the annual festival of Kalipuja. About 300 goats are sacrificed to satisfy Goddess Kali. A one day long fair takes place on the day of sacrifice. This traditional festival is a significant religious event for the villagers around Sundarban and southern part of Bangladesh. February 19, 2008. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798253: A sadhu at the annual Shiva Chaturdashi festival or Shiv mela, attended by thousands of Hindu pilgrims at Chandranath Temple at Shitakunda, in February. Chittagong, Bangladesh. February 15, 2007. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798257: Celebration of Mexico's Day of the Death in Mitla, Oaxaca. The holiday, which honours the dead, is celebrated mainly in Mexico and by people of Mexican heritage, coincides with Catholic holy days of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. Mitla, Mexico. November 3, 2007. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798258: An Indonesian Chinese boy lights up incense as part of the ritual to celebrate Chinese New Year in Vihara Dharma Bakti. Banda Aceh, Indonesia. February 6, 2008. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798265: People from Hindu community, taking holy bath, known as punnasnan, in the Brahmaputra river at Langlabad, Narayanganj, Bangladesh. April 13, 2008. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798271: Workers inside an RMG (Readymade Garments) factory. Garments sector contributes the highest to the GDP of Bangladesh. Bangladesh. November 15, 2002. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798283: Teen workers at a shipbreaking yard in Chittagong. 2004. Though shipbreaking-yards meet almost 80% of the scrap iron required for the domestic steel industry and also contributes notably to the GDP, they pose serious health hazard to the ship breakers and the people living around them. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798289: Workers are working at Chittagong Ship breaking yard, Vatiary, Chittagong, Bangladesh. The yard lies across 20 kilometres of Chittagong's coastline.The shipyard owners estimate around 200,000 Bangladeshis benefit indirectly from this business. December 6, 2005. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798291: A woman worker with her child at a brick filed in Norshingdi, Bangladesh. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798293: Brick filed in Norshingdi, Bangladesh. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798297: Tangra is famous for leather industry, which usually consumes huge quantity of water. During this high consumption, common people suffer by the water problem. Kolkata, India. August 12, 2005. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798299: A soldering worker at Buriganga dockyard, Keraniganj, Dhaka, Bangladesh. July 4, 2005. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG797905: Women offering special prayers in a revered shrine in Batamaloo, Srinagar, India where a saint is buried. Thousands of people visit the shrine annually to offer special prayers in the mosque, which is revered across the Kashmir Valley. The annual festival in the shrine is being held for 10 days during which people from all parts of Kashmir Valley visit the shrine and offer special prayers. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG797908: Hundreds of thousands of devotees continued to congregate for Biswa Ijtema, as the world's second largest Muslims gathering began today. Pilgrims continued to stream onto the sandy banks of the Turag River to join prayers amid tight security. A 15,000-strong security force was in place. Organisers expect about three million to join the mass prayers on Sunday, the final day of the congregation. The gathering shuns politics and focuses on reviving the tenets of Islam and promoting peace and harmony. Several thousand foreign participants are expected by Sunday according to Tabligh Jamaat, the organisation of Islamic preachers, that sponsors the event. Dhaka, Bangladesh. February 2 2007. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG797942: A stone sculpture of Buddha. Nepal, November 20, 2006. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG797944: Bouddhanath Stupa, more commonly known as Bouddha is the largest budhhist stupa in Nepal. This picture was taken during the occasion of Buddha Jayanti on 2nd May 2007 at dusk after the celebration lights were switched on. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG797948: Tibetan prayer flags, India. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG797949: Crucifix at Dello Hill, India. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG797950: A saint try to hypnotised at Mela ground of west Bengal. India, 5 August, 2005. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG797955: Buddhists hanging new prayer flags at Swayambhunath during the festival of Buddha Jayanti on May 2, 2007. Kathmandu, Nepal. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG797960: Sunset over New Market Mosque, Dhaka, Bangladesh. May 18, 2006. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG797980: Paharpur is a ruined city in Bangladesh which was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. This important archaeological site is situated in Paharpur village under Naogaon district. The city was inhabited during the Pala dynasty by Mahayana Buddhists and served as an important intellectual, cultural and learning center. Paharpur Vihara is the greatest Buddhist Vihara in the sub-continent. It was built by king Dharmapala of Pala Dynasty in the 8th century. The site remains important because of its Buddhist architecture which influenced building patterns throughout South Asia. Paharpur, Naogaon, Bangladesh. September 5, 2006. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798001: Kumbha fair (Kumbhamela) in the early morning mist. India. Kumbha mela is a Hindu pilgrimage that occurs four times every twelve years and rotates among four locations: Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. Each twelve-year cycle includes one Maha Kumbh Mela (Great Kumbh fair) at Prayag, which is attended by millions of people, making it the largest gathering anywhere in the world. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798003: Hindu Saints (Sadhus) appearing at Kumbha fair (Kumbhamela), India. Kumbha mela is a Hindu pilgrimage that occurs four times every twelve years and rotates among four locations: Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. Each twelve-year cycle includes one Maha Kumbha Mela (Great Kumbha fair) at Prayag, which is attended by millions of people, making it the largest gathering anywhere in the world. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798004: A pilgrim too submissive before the words of his Guru at Kumbha fair (Kumbhamela), India. Kumbha mela is a Hindu pilgrimage that occurs four times every twelve years and rotates among four locations: Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. Each twelve-year cycle includes one Maha Kumbha Mela (Great Kumbh fair) at Prayag, which is attended by millions of people, making it the largest gathering anywhere in the world. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798005: Devotees drying up their 'sarees' after bathing at the holy waters of Prayag Raj (Allahabad) as two of Hinduism's most important rivers, the Ganges and the Yamuna converge here. Hindus consider that the confluence, known as the sangam, has great soul-cleansing properties. The Allahabad Kumbhamela is the largest and holiest of all fairs (melas). India. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798006: Sadhus appearing in Kumbha fair (Kumbhamela). The contrast of saffron in blue morning mist is the most common visual in the fair. Kumbha mela is a Hindu pilgrimage that occurs four times every twelve years and rotates among four locations: Prayag (Allahabad), Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. Each twelve-year cycle includes one Maha Kumbha Mela (Great Kumbha fair) at Prayag, which is attended by millions of people, making it the largest gathering anywhere in the world. India. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798018: A musician plays Shehnai in a wedding ceremony, he is a member of the band party of a Palanquin porters group. Palanquins are still used for carrying brides in remote Bangladesh. In Mathbari, a far-off village in Sundarbans, some people still cling to palanquins. The palanquin-porters are saving a heritage, a century old culture of the soil, for the sake of saving their lives in a miserable way. Mathbari, Kaira, Bangladesh. May 05, 2007. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798027: A groom looks from a Palanquin. Palanquins are still used for carrying brides in remote Bangladesh. In Mathbari, a far-off village in Sundarbans, some people still cling to palanquins. The palanquin-porters are saving a heritage, a century old culture of the soil, for the sake of saving their lives in a miserable way. Mathbari, Kaira, Bangladesh. May 07, 2007. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798028: A musician plays Shehnai in a wedding ceremony. He is a member of the band party of a Palanquin porters group. Palanquins are still used for carrying brides in remote Bangladesh. In Mathbari, a far-off village in Sundarbans, some people still cling to palanquins. The palanquin-porters are saving a heritage, a century old culture of the soil, for the sake of saving their lives in a miserable way. Mathbari, Kaira, Bangladesh. May 07, 2007. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798029: A sequence of a Village Hindu marriage ceremony.Palanquins are still used for carrying brides in remote Bangladesh. In Mathbari, a far-off village in Sundarbans, some people still cling to palanquins. The palanquin-porters are saving a heritage, a century old culture of the soil, for the sake of saving their lives in a miserable way. Mathbari, Kaira, Bangladesh. May 07, 2007. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798031: Gurdwara Nanak Shahi the main Sikh gurdwara in Bangladesh is situated on the campus of the University Of Dhaka near the arts faculty building. At one time it was known as 'Sujatpur Sikh Sangat', as it was situated in what was then Sujatpur mouza. It is believed to have been built on the initiative of a Sikh priest, Almast, sent by the sixth Sikh guru, Hargobind Singh (1595-1644), during the reign of Emperor Jahangir. Dhaka, Bangladesh. September 11, 2005. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798035: Mahasthan or Mahasthangarh represents the earliest and the largest archaeological site in Bangladesh, consists of the ruins of the ancient city of Pundranagara. The site is 13 km north of Bogra town on the Dhaka-Dinajpur highway. Bogra, Bangladesh. June 4, 2006. (Source-Banglapedia). (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798039: An idol of the Hindu Goddess 'Saraswati' under process in a workshop at Kumartuli, West Bengal, India. Kumartuli, the nerve centre of the clay idol-makers of West Bengal, is home and workshop to more than one hundred and fifty families of clay model-makers.Nearly eighty per cent of the community puja images in Calcutta are made at Kumartuli by artisans who strive to make something new and innovative in their sphere of endeavour. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798044: Painted idols of the Hindu God 'Kartika', Goddess 'Laxmi' and God 'Ganesha' (the elephant head) in a workhop at Kumartuli during 'Durga Puja' festival. Kumartuli, the nerve centre of the clay idol-makers of West Bengal, is home and workshop to more than one hundred and fifty families of clay model-makers. Nearly eighty per cent of the community puja images in Calcutta are made at Kumartuli by artisans, who strive to make something new and innovative in their sphere of endeavour. (photo) / Bridgeman Images

UIG798055: A beggar weeps as muslims offer fridays prayers next to an open drainage in Dharavi slums. Home to over a million people, Dharavi, considered to be one of Asia's largest slums is a heart-shaped settlement in central Mumbai spread over an area of 1.75 km. Authorities in India's financial capital invited a global tender early June 2007 to tear down the slums and replace it with gleaming new apartments, but the project is a suspect in the eyes of most of its habitants. The development program includes 100 billion rupees (.48 billion) in seven years to develop Dharavi. India, June 22, 2007. (photo) / Bridgeman Images