Rangoli, also known as kolam or Muggu, is a folk art from India in which patterns are created on the floor in living rooms or courtyards using materials such as colored rice, dry flour, colored sand or flower petals. It is usually made during Diwali, Onam, Pongal and other Indian festivals. They are meant to be sacred welcoming areas for the Hindu deities. The ancient symbols have been passed down through the ages, from each generation to the next, keeping both the art form and the tradition alive. Similar practices are followed in different Indian states: in Tamil Nadu, there is Kolam in Tamil Nadu; Mandana in Rajasthan; Chaookpurna in Chhattisgarh; Alpana in West Bengal; Aripana in Bihar; Chowk pujan in Uttar Pradesh; Muggu in Andhra Pradesh and others.

In Jukkasjärvi, a village a few miles east of Kiruna, the proprietors of one hotel begin planning for a winter ice festival in March. That’s when they begin collecting some 5,000 tons of ice from the River Torne in order to prepare the Icehotel, the world’s coolest place to stay. Options for overnight stay include snow rooms, ice rooms, art suites, and the Northern Lights room, all of which range from about $300 to $900 per night. But the deluxe suite’s the only way to go. These rooms come with a critical amenity: heated ensuite bathrooms and saunas. Here: A man walks into a room in the Ice hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden, December 16, 2015. (Photo by Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

As part of FLAIR Melbourne – a Flinders Lane art festival – Melbourne’s Lisa Minogue presents stylised photographic portraits of Australian women of colour, their faces painted vibrantly to accentuate their individuality and encourage the viewer to study each face more closely. Minogue asked each woman the same question: “What do the words “coloured girl” mean to you?”. (Photo by Lisa Minogue/The Guardian)

In this photo taken on Sunday, February 15, 2015 a girl runs away from a “Mamuxarro” during the carnival, in the small town of Unanu, northern Spain. In the northern Spanish ancient village of Unamu, people dress up as “Mamuxarro”, folkloric figures in white with a red sash and a metal mask to cover their faces as they pursue townsfolk with sticks. According to custom, their “victims” (usually young women) must kneel and kiss the mamuxarro’s knee after he makes the sign of the cross on their forehead. (Photo by Alvaro Barrientos/AP Photo)

In this Thursday, August 17, 2017 photo, a troupe charges and fires their rifles during Tabourida, a traditional horse riding show also known as Fantasia, in Mansouria, near Casablanca, Morocco. Thousands gathered recently in Mansouria, a small town south of the capital Rabat, to attend one of the oldest festivals in Morocco. Nineteen horse troupes came from different parts of the kingdom to celebrate a three-day event that blends courage, skill and tradition. (Photo by Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP Photo)

A Thai devotee in a state of trance screams while holy water is sprayed as thousands race towards the edifice of the founder monk during the annual Tattoo fesitval at Wat Bang Phra on March 7, 2009 in Nakhom Pathom, Thailand. Some men take on the characteristics of sacred animals that have been carved onto their skin. Thousands of believers from all over Thailand come to take part in one of the country's most bizarre festivals about 50 miles outside Bangkok to pay respect to the temple's monks who are master tattooist. In Thai culture the tattoo or Thai word sak yant is worn as a symbol of spiritual and physical protection, many believe that the tattoo have mystical powers. Many tattoo fanatics choose to have monkeys and tigers as well as the Khmer/Cambodia ancient script on their bodies. (Photo Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

“The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge”, “The Queen” and “Prince Harry” outside the Summerhall arts venue in Edinburgh, Scotland, where their creator Alison Jackson is holding a live performance of her work called La Trashiata. Debuting at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and broadcast to Odeon Cinemas in association with Hibrow Productions, “La Trashiata” will feature a roster of Alison Jackson's brilliant lookalikes singing some of opera's most famous arias. The stage will be set for uncanny doppelgangers to each take to the stage and perform their amusingly appropriate song. (Photo by James Glossop/The Times/SIPA Press/News Syndication)

In this photo taken Saturday, February 14, 2015, Benjamin Miller, 20, from Georgia, in the US, is gored by a bull during the “Carnaval del Toro” in Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain. An American youth is recovering in the intensive-care unit of a hospital in western Salamanca after being savagely gored during a bullfighting festival celebrating Carnival, officials said Sunday. Surgeon Enrique Crespo said he was called to operate on 20-year-old Benjamin Miller from Georgia, who had been gored and tossed by a large fighting bull on Saturday, the first day of nearby Ciudad Rodrigo's “Carnaval del Toro”. (Photo by Jose Vicente/AP Photo)