People play "Palin", a traditional ritual and ancestral Mapuche game played with curved sticks called "Chuecas" and a wooden ball, during a meet on Dia de la Raza (Day of the Races), also known as Columbus Day in Vina del Mar, Chile October 11, 2015. (Photo by Rodrigo Garrido/Reuters)

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 view shows a church in front of a high-rise apartment building in Saint Petersburg, Russia on October 30, 2019. (Photo by Anton Vaganov/Reuters)

Snakes hang from a wooden cabinet marked with the Chinese characters “poisonous snake”, at a snake soup shop ahead of the Spring Festival in Hong Kong January 29, 2013. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)

The sun rises this morning behind the 173ft spire of St Mary's church in the market town of Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire, UK on February 17, 2024. The church dates from the 13th century with the Ashlar faced tower added in the 15th century. (Photo by Andrew McCaren/London News Pictures)

Father Juan Manuel Villar blesses a dog during the feast of San Anton, the patron saint of animals, at the San Anton church on January 17, 2012 in the center of Madrid, Spain. San Anton is honored by many Catholic churches in Spain where thousands of animal lovers flock to their nearest place of worship to have their animals blessed. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

“Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky (August 30 1863 Russian Empire – September 27, 1944 Paris, France) was a Russian chemist and photographer. He is best known for his pioneering work in color photography of early 20th-century Russia”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Dinner during haying. Russian Empire, Novgorod province, county Cherepovets, 1909. (Photos by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky via US Library of Congress and Prokudin-Gorsky.org)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews). Enjoy.

Father Angel (L), parish priest of San Anton Church blesses a dog during the celebrations of San Anton in Madrid, Spain on January 17, 2018. (Photo by Fernando Alvarado/EFE via ZUMA Press)