PFH1774144: Thailand: Thai Buddhist ordination ceremony, Chiang Mai. Firstly the nakor monk-to-be has his head shaved. The complete shaving of the head and eyebrows is then undertaken by a monk / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774158: Thailand: Thai Buddhist ordination ceremony, Chiang Mai. Traditional Thai musical ensemble accompanying the ceremony at the sukhwan nakceremony / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774170: Thailand: Thai Buddhist ordination ceremony, Chiang Mai. The nakor monk-to-be pays respect to his mother for the suffering she endured during pregnancy / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774186: Thailand: Thai Buddhist ordination ceremony, Chiang Mai. The nakor monks-to-be are presented with money and their wrists are tied with white thread by relatives and well wishers at the sukhwan nakceremony / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774196: Thailand: Thai Buddhist ordination ceremony, Wat Rampoeng, Chiang Mai. Newly ordained monks are presented to and blessed by the abbot / Bridgeman Images

PFH1773913: China: Three young Uighur boys with their football in the Old Town, Kashgar, Xinjiang Province / Bridgeman Images

PFH1773929: England / UK: Charles Dickens, English writer and social critic (1812–1870). Dickens in the 1860s / Bridgeman Images

PFH1773936: Burma / Myanmar: The Kyauktawgyi Buddha carved from a single block of marble during the reign of King Mindon (r. 1853 - 78), Kyauktawgyi Paya Temple, Mandalay / Bridgeman Images

PFH1773957: Thailand: Festival beauty, Chiang Mai Flower Festival Parade, Chiang Mai, northern Thailand / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774025: Thailand: The Golden Buddha (Phra Phuttha Maha Suwan Patimakon), the world's largest solid gold Buddha, Wat Traimit, Bangkok / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774036: Burma / Myanmar: A pagoda entrance hides a Buddha figure, Nyaung Ohak pagodas near the Shwe Indein Pagoda, Indein, near Ywama, Inle Lake, Shan State / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774044: Burma / Myanmar: Pa-O housing next to the Shwe Indein Pagoda, Indein, near Ywama, Inle Lake, Shan State / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774067: Burma / Myanmar: Ywama, a stilted village at the eastern edge of Inle Lake, Shan State / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774090: China: A decorated gourd hangs in front of a musical instrument shop in Old Kashgar, Xinjiang Province / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774100: Burma / Myanmar: Brightly adorned oxen pulling a cart with a princess (young Burmese girl in her finest attire) in the Na Htwin or the Ear-Piercing Ceremony which takes place at the same time as the Shinbyu ceremony. Mandalay / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774108: Sri Lanka: Young traditional musicians at a temple festival, Kelaniya Temple, Kelaniya, near Colombo / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774125: Thailand: Thai Buddhist ordination ceremony, Chiang Mai. Firstly the nakor monk-to-be has his head shaved. The first trimmings are made by parents, relatives or a senior monk / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774142: Thailand: Thai Buddhist ordination ceremony, Chiang Mai. Firstly the nakor monk-to-be has his head shaved. The complete shaving of the head and eyebrows is then undertaken by a monk / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774160: Thailand: Thai Buddhist ordination ceremony, Chiang Mai. A Brahman priest (all in white) joins the ordination proceedings. He is to present the nakor monks-to-be to the spirits, to let those spirits know that these young men are to become monks / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774172: Thailand: Thai Buddhist ordination ceremony, Chiang Mai. Parents sitting behind touch the nakor monks-to-be, symbollically letting their offspring go at the sukhwan nakceremony / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774182: Thailand: Thai Buddhist ordination ceremony, Chiang Mai. The banana leaves in the silk cloth are presented by the nakor monks-to-be to their parents at the sukhwan nakceremony / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774190: Thailand: Thai Buddhist ordination ceremony, Wat Rampoeng, Chiang Mai. The newly ordained monk is shown how to tie his first robe / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774198: Thailand: Thai Buddhist ordination ceremony, Wat Rampoeng, Chiang Mai. Newly ordained monks are presented to and blessed by the abbot / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774234: Vietnam: A dragon adorns a door in the Dai Thanh Mon (Gate of the Great Synthesis) leading to the fourth courtyard and the House of Ceremonies in the Temple of Literature (Van Mieu), Hanoi / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774243: Vietnam: Painted lacquer dragon on a pillar in Van Mieu (the Temple of Literature), Hanoi / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774262: Burma / Myanmar: Shrine roofs within the Shwedagon Pagoda complex, Yangon (Rangoon) / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774266: Burma / Myanmar: Prince Siddhartha Gautama before leaving the palace and eventually becoming 'the enlightened one' or simply the Buddha, Shwezigon Pagoda, Bagan (Pagan) Ancient City / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774286: Burma / Myanmar: Elaborate woodcarving showing a scene from a Burmese folk tale in a pavilion at the Shwezigon Pagoda, Bagan (Pagan) Ancient City / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774325: Laos: Doors at Wat Pa Khe, Luang Prabang, depicting guardians blowing conch shells and standing on a deer (left) and a tiger (right), a scene from the Hindu epic Ramayana (in Laos known as Phra Lak Phra Lam) / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774366: Burma / Myanmar: Buddha, Sulamani Temple (12th century), Bagan (Pagan) Ancient City / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774429: Indonesia / Sumatra: Three Acehnese warriors. Henricus Marinus Neeb, c. 1900. Aceh War (1873 - 1914) / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774416: Indonesia / Netherlands: A Dutch resupply convoy from Banda Aceh c. 1900. Aceh War (1873 - 1914) / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774448: Indonesia / Sumatra: Dutch troops and artilley at Banda Aceh, 1874. Aceh War (1873 - 1914) / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774440: Indonesia / Sumatra: Three Dutch officers with a mixed group of Dutch and Indonesian women, Aceh, c. 1910. Aceh War (1873 - 1914) / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774453: Indonesia / Sumatra: Sultan Alauddin Muhammad Da'ud Syah II (1864 - 1939), thirty-fifth and last sultan of Aceh, c. 1920. Aceh War (1873 - 1914) / Bridgeman Images

PFH1774488: Russia: Tramps at Nizhniy Novgorod, 1897, Dmitriev, Maxim Petrovich (1858-1948) / Bridgeman Images