Monks dressed as Tibetan Buddhism characters attend a religious ceremony, known as “Da Gui” or beating ghost, to celebrate the upcoming Tibetan New Year which starts on March 1 at Yonghegong Lama Temple, in Beijing February 28, 2014. This Tibetan ceremony is held annually at the end of the first lunar month with mask dancing to expel ghosts, according to a press release. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

Buddhist monks walk past a statue of comic character the Hulk at Tamru temple in Samut Prakan province, Thailand, March 3, 2016. It’s a sign of changing times for Buddhism in Thailand when one sees temples, including Wat Tam Ru, using U.S. comic superheroes to attract children and teenagers into the religion. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)

Young women dressed in traditional Japanese clothing celebrate Coming of Age Day at Buddhism temple in Tokyo on January 9, 2023. It is a day to recognize and congratulate individuals who have reached the age of majority (20 years old). On this day, young people who have turned 20 are officially recognized as adults and on the responsibilities and duties of adulthood. (Photo by Taidgh Barron/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

The Kingdom of Pagan (also commonly known as the Pagan Dynasty and the Pagan Empire) was the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-day Burma (Myanmar). Pagan's 250-year rule over the Irrawaddy valley and its periphery laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese language and culture, the spread of Burman ethnicity in Upper Burma, and the growth of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and in mainland Southeast Asia.

The head of a mountain ram is attached to a wooden column at the site used for shamans' rituals in the Aldyn Bulak area on the bank of the Yenisei River during sunset outside the village of Elegest, Tuva region, Southern Siberia, Russia, October 7, 2015. The region is inhabited by Tuvans, historically cattle-herding nomads, who nowadays practise two main confessions – Buddhism and Shamanism. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

A Palestinian woman argues with an Israeli border policewoman over the Israeli demolition of a building housing an apartment and a restaurant as the building owners said they were informed by the forces that they did not obtain a construction permit, in Beit Jala in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on August 26, 2019. (Photo by Mussa Qawasma/Reuters)

When wedding photographer Katie Yeaton saw that one of her dogs had white fur and the other had black-and-white fur, she did what only a wedding photographer could do: she threw them a backyard wedding complete with professional photography to remember the day. (Photo by Katie Yeaton)