Hpaung Daw U Festival, Myanmar

This 18-day festival is the most anticipated event on Inle Lake in Myanmar’s Southern Shan State. Tourists and pilgrims come to Hpaung Daw U Pagoda to see the five Buddha images that are enshrined in it. Four of the five Buddha images are taken on a tour of the 14 villages around the lake, the royal barge propelled by Inle Lake leg-rowers across the waters. Each village greets the four images with fanfare, accompanying the visit with rowing competitions, Shan dances and martial arts displays. (Myanmar Tourism Ministry)