May 13, 2014

Men hang Vesak lanterns ahead of Vesak Day celebrations in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Vesak Day, which is celebrated on May 14 and 15 in Sri Lanka, commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha.

First graders take part in a ceremony to mark the start of a school year in Kyic, Ukraine.

Faithful gather during a candle light vigil at the Our Lady of Fatima shrine in Fatima, Portugal. Every year on May 12 and 13 thousands of Catholic pilgrims arrive in the Fatima Sanctuary to attend Masses and pray in honor of the Virgin Mary, where it is believed she was witnessed by three shepherd children in 1917.

Vietnamese school children perform dances during a military parade in Hanoi, to mark the 70th anniversary of independence from France.

Members of the British male dance ensemble BalletBoyz perform during a dress rehearsal at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia.

Buddhist devotees pour water on a sacred tree during a ceremony at the Shwedagon pagoda in Rangoon, Burma, on the full moon day of Kasone Festival to mark Buddha's birthday in Rangoon.

Children dressed as Hindu Lord Krishna wait to participate in a fancy dress competition at a temple in Chandigarh, India.

Indian artist Sudarsan Pattnaik works on a sand sculpture depicting drowned Syrian boy Aylan Kurdi, 3, at Puri beach, some 65 kilometers away from Bhubaneswar.  Photos of the child's lifeless body, lying on a beach in Bodrum, Turkey, have triggered a wave of emotion across the continent, despite deep divisions among European governments on how to deal with the crisis.