Wisps and clouds of smoke rose into the air at Buddhist and Daoist temples around Asia on Wednesday as people lit incense to pray for good luck in the Year of the Snake.
Lunar New Year prayers and incense usher in the Year of the SnakeEl Año de la Serpiente comienza con celebraciones del Año Nuevo Lunar dentro y fuera de Asia Se teme que haya varios muertos tras una estampida durante el festival masivo Maha Kumbh en IndiaA man holding incense sticks prays on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year at Lama Temple in Beijing on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025.
People pray on the first day of the Lunar New Year at Quan Su pagoda in Hanoi, Vietnam Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. They gave a small donation for a bundle of incense sticks and lit them. Some held them above their heads and bowed several times to the deity in the temple. Then they stuck the sticks into sand or a similar material in often ceremonial vessels outside the main hall, the smoke wafting up and intensifying as more people came and went.
The prayers began late on the eve of the New Year in Hong Kong, where people annually line up at a Taoist temple to try to be the first to put their incense sticks into the stands at 11 p.m. Worshipers burn incense at Wong Tai Sin Temple to welcome the Lunar New Year of the Snake in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
Lana Wong, a celebrity who attracts attention every year with her outfits, wore two stuffed toy snakes around her neck as she planted her incense sticks.Actor Lana Wong Wai Lin, left, and other worshipers hold toy snakes at Wong Tai Sin Temple to welcome the Lunar New Year of the Snake in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
Similar scenes played out after daylight in the morning at the Lama Temple in Beijing, a historic Tibetan Buddhist institution that draws large crowds on the first day of every lunar year. The Lunar New Year is also a time for “temple fairs” in China, with performances by lion dance troupes and booths selling snacks, toys for children and other traditional and non-traditional items.
A woman writes wishes on a red cloth roll as people visit a temple fair held at the Dongyue Temple on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. Dragon dancers perform during celebrations of Lunar New Year with a large procession in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025.
A stray cat is reflected in a glass window as red lanterns hung on trees to celebrate the Lunar New Year in Jakarta, West Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. Cambodian ethnic Chinese people perform a dragon dance on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, in front of Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, ahead of the Lunar New Year.
Worshippers go to pray at a temple on the first day of the Lunar New Year celebrations in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025.
Kolkata General News Asia Asia Pacific World News Lana Wong Religion Niu Qingshan Beijing World News
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