The whirling silks of this Tshechu dancer’s costume blossom into an impressive shape as he loses himself in the rhythm of the traditional Cham (or Tscham) dance as part of the Lhuntse Tshechu, an annual festival held in northeastern Bhutan. These masked dancers perform to a musical accompaniment provided by brother monks or other locals.

Imagine if you could tell about actually getting to drive a rickshaw. Yes, today it is possible to get your hands on the steering bar of this ever-popular mode of transport. In which case it’s game over: Your tale would triumph, hands down. Get ready to tell the best stories about your time as a rickshaw pilot, because we’ve found the top five rickshaws that you are actually allowed to drive.

My chance encounter with Sadriddin occurred in a local coffee shop in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. What started as an inquisitive chat between tables ended with an invitation to join him and a musician friend for a jam session in his living room. After three or four songs, he suggested that, later that night, I attend a local wedding reception at which he was performing.

The picture here is of an evening Aarti performance at Dasaswamedh Ghat in Varanasi, India. While many ghats performs this grand prayer ceremony, the one held at Dasaswamedh Ghat is one of the largest and best known. Here, five young, extremely talented Hindu priests preform the highly choreographed ritual with super agility and dexterity.

One of the main features of Buddhist monasteries in Sikkim is the prayer wheel, found in lines on monastery premises. Pilgrims turn these wheels, for it is believed that a prayer is released with every rotation of the wheel. The picture here is of one such wheel in the making. The artist is painting the prayer ‘om mani padme hum’ on it, which is a very popular Buddhist mantra said to increase the effect of a prayer.