Easter and Spring festivals around the world amid the pandemic

An Orthodox Christian refugee who fled the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region reads prayers with his son in front of a church at the Hamdeyat Transition Center near the Sudan-Ethiopia border, eastern Sudan, March 16, 2021.
Political tensions between Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government and the Tigray leaders who once dominated the country's government exploded in November into war.

Indians smeared in color participate in Holi festival celebrations in Gauhati, India, March 29, 2021.
Hindus threw colored powder and sprayed water in massive Holi celebrations Monday despite many Indian states restricting gatherings to try to contain a coronavirus resurgence rippling across the country.

The "Virgen de la Esperanza" at the Cathedral of Zamora in Zamora, Spain, April 1, 2021.
This year, Holy Week falls on March 28–April 4, with events in Spain taking place alongside nightly curfews and regional lockdowns for the second year running. Religious statues, which are normally paraded on the streets through crowds of believers, will be displayed indoors and with limited capacities due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Worshippers take part in a procession during the Catholic Washing of the Feet ceremony on Easter Holy Week in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Old City, Jerusalem, Israel, April 1, 2021.

Kashmiri Muslim women pray as the head priest displays a relic at the Hazratbal shrine on the occasion of Mehraj-u-Alam, believed to mark the ascension of Prophet Muhammad to heaven, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, March 12, 2021.

Tourists sit on a boat and watch Hindu priests perform evening rituals on the banks of the River Ganges in Varanasi, India, March 14, 2021. Varanasi is among the world's oldest cities and millions of Hindu pilgrims gather annually here for ritual bathing and prayers in the Ganges River, considered holiest by Hindus.

A Hindu holy man takes a holy bath before praying during the Shivratri festival at Pashupatinath temple premises in Kathmandu, Nepal, March 11, 2021.
Shivratri, or the night of Shiva, is dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of death and destruction.

Actors put on their costumes prior to a Palm Sunday passion play amid the coronavirus pandemic, outside Iztapalapa Cathedral, in Iztapalapa, a borough of Mexico City, Mexico, March 28, 2021.

A devotee takes part in a Holy Week Palm Sunday procession at Saint Mary Cathedral, in Pamplona, northern Spain, March 28, 2021.
Many devotees attended the procession a year after events were canceled due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

A Kashmiri Shiite Muslim girl lights candles at the grave of her relative to mark Shab-e-Barat, on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, March 29, 2021.
Muslims visit ancestral graveyards for the salvation of the souls of the departed and also believe that all sins will be forgiven by praying to Allah throughout the Shab-e Barat night.

A faithful wearing a traditional mantilla dress poses for a picture in front of the statue of Jesus del Gran Poder at San Isidro Collegiate Church after annual Holy Week processions were canceled due to the coronavirus disease in Madrid, Spain, April 1, 2021.

People watch a castle-shaped wooden construction burning as part of celebrations at the Maslenitsa (Shrovetide) festival at the Nikola-Lenivets art park in Nikola-Lenivets village, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) southwest of Moscow, Russia, March 13, 2021.
Maslenitsa is an Orthodox Christian holiday celebrated in the last week before Orthodox Lent.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and children burn leavened items in final preparation for the Passover holiday in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish town of Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, Israel, March 26, 2021.
Jews are forbidden to eat leavened foodstuffs during the Passover holiday that celebrates the biblical story of the Israelites' escape from slavery and exodus from Egypt.

Barefoot flagellants have their bloodied backs whipped as penance outside a closed church, defying government orders to avoid religious gatherings and stay home to curb the spread of the coronavirus, as they commemorate Good Friday in Manila, Philippines, April 2, 2021.
The Philippines, the only predominantly Catholic country in Asia, observe the days that led to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ as one of the most important religious days of the year.