“Kavadi Attam is a dance performed by the devotees during the ceremonial worship of Murugan, the Tamil God of War. It is often performed during the festival of Thaipusam and emphasizes debt bondage. The Kavadi itself is a physical burden through which the devotees implore for help from the God Murugan”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A devotee pulls his procession burden connected by hooks pierced in his back during the Thaipusam procession at Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple on February 7, 2012 in Singapore. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Activists protesting cuts in subsidies to solar power in Germany protest outside the building where Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Philipp Roesler and Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen were announcing the cuts on February 23, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Hostesses pose for photos with a police officer on the motorized vehicle during the third plenary meeting of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at The Great Hall Of The People on March 10, 2012 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)

Participants learn how to survive in the wild, including tips on how to make it through a zombie invastion at a “Zombie First Responder” course March 11, 2012 in Sandy, Oregon. In an intensive 2-day curriculum participants train in everything from wilderness and urban survival, nerf or nerd weaponry, stealth and evasion, and proper zombie “disposal”. (Photo by Natalie Behring/Getty Images)

New York Police Department tactical police officers stand guard near the New York Stock Exchange on September 9, 2011 in New York City. Officials are stepping up security in New York and Washington D.C. a day after U.S. officials received a credible but unconfirmed terror threat to utilize car bombs on bridges or tunnels in New York or Washington. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Michael Bath, from McLeans Ridges in New South Wales, Australia, estimates that in his lifetime he has taken more than 3,500 images of lightning bolts illuminating the sky. Photo: Alstonville, New South Wales, Australia – January 8, 2003. (Photo by Michael Bath/Caters News)

“I wonder about everyone that I photograph, what are they thinking at the moment, what is going on in their life, what are they really like. Photographs are such abstractions of real life, both true and false at the same time and so limited in the scope of what can be captured, yet limitless in how it stimulates our imagination. Indeed, photography is a rich medium”. – Mike Peters. Photo: Meatpacking District, NYC, September 28, 2012. (Photo by Mike Peters)

Alice Ross views a gold crown which was presented to Queen Victoria, part of the Royal Collection on display at the Queens Gallery on March 13, 2012 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The exhibition, which marks Her Majesty The Queen's Diamond Jubilee, reflects the tastes of monarchs and other members of the royal family who have shaped one of the world's great art collections. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)