WORLD WATCH

Amazing images that celebrate the beauty and diversity of the incredible world we all share.

Amazing images from around the world.

QUANG PHU CAU, VIETNAM

Vietnam’s ‘ incense village’ glows pink as dozens set about dying, drying and whittling down bamboo bark to make the fragrant sticks ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. It’s the busiest time of year for these workers in Quang Phu Cau – a small town on the outskirts of Hanoi, where families have been making incense for over a century.

The job is a source of great pride to many, and most households in the area are involved in some way. Some people cut down the bamboo and feed it into a whittling machine to reduce it to thin strips. Others dip the sticks into big buckets of pink dye before leaving hundreds of brightly coloured bushels on the streets to dry in the sun, where they look like giant blossoming flowers. Later, women in cloth face masks coat the dried sticks with aromatic incense paste or powder. The scent of each batch is tailored to the unique tastes of the regions they will be sold in, with some of the popular aromas including agarwood, cinnamon and pine.

Incense is an irreplaceable part of traditional festivals and religious ceremonies in Vietnam, and burning incense is thought to create a bridge connecting the human world and the spiritual world of heaven and the gods. Incense sticks are used both at temples and at the ancestral altar at home.

Sales of incense increase every year in the lead- up to Tet ( Vietnamese New Year), and a worker can earn as much as US$ 430 a month during this time – a decent sum in a country where the average monthly income is US$195.

PRAYAGRAJ, INDIA

Hindu holy men take a dip during the first Shahi Snan (grand bath) of India’s Kumbh Mela festival in Prayagraj. This Hindu pilgrimage of faith is the largest peaceful gathering in the world, and by 4pm on the first day, more than 18 million people led by naked, ashsmeared ascetics had entered the grounds. Over the course of the eightweek celebration, it is expected that up to 150 million people – including one million foreign visitors – will bathe at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna, and a mythical third river, the Saraswati.

Devout Hindus believe that bathing in these waters absolves people of sins, and at the time of the Kumbh Mela, it brings salvation from the cycle of life and death. The festival has its roots in a Hindu tradition that says the god Vishnu wrested a pot containing the nectar of immortality from a group of demons. During a fight for possession, four drops fell to earth, in the cities of Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik. These four cities now take turns in holding the Kumbh Mela festivals, which occur every three years.

This year, for the first time, a transgender ashram joined the first bathing day. The Kinnar Akhara, led by rights activist Lakshmi Narayan Tripathi, received a police escort to the bathing site, where Tripathi plunged into the waters to the cheers of her followers. India legalised gay sex last September, but LGBTQI+ people still face prejudice in the deeply religious country – so this was a landmark occasion for the community.

YATOMI, JAPAN

Set in kanko (wooden trays) in the water, goldfish are auctioned at a wholesale auction in Yatomi, Japan. Breeders from the surrounding area bring their goldfish to sell in lots to brokers, who in turn sell these fish to pet stores and individuals. Many different varieties of goldfish are available, including ranchu, jikin, nankin, ryukins, orandas, bubble eyes, telescopes and more.

Goldfish were first brought to Japan by Chinese traders in the 16th century, and were kept as pets by aristocrats and samurai. They started being sold in towns during the Edo period (16031868) and their popularity has endured ever since. Seen as a symbol of wealth and good luck, goldfish remain a central element of popular culture, art and everyday life in modern Japan.

Kingyo-sukui (goldfish scooping) is a carnival- style game often found at festivals. Participants must attempt to scoop goldfish out of a large tank with a fragile paper “net” called a poi. If players manage to catch a fish before the poi tears, they can take it home. The game is so popular that a National Goldfish Scooping Championship began in 1995.

Goldfish breeding competitions are also popular throughout the country, as goldfish clubs work to produce unique genetic strains. One of the most famous competitions is the annual All Japan Ranchu Show, which has a history of more than 50 years. The show is held on the Japanese Culture Day holiday on 3 November, and the winning ranchu is bestowed with a certificate signed by the Prime Minister of Japan.