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Ethnic Chinese devotees offer prayers in front of a 20-foot-high paper statue of the Chinese deity "Da Shi Ye" or Guardian God of Ghosts during the Hungry Ghost festival in Kajang, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Aug. 16, 2013.
In the Chinese tradition, the seventh month of the lunar year is regarded as "Ghost Month" in which spirits and ghosts come down to earth. During this festival devotees burn paper models to appease the wandering spirits and offers prayers.
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Participants prepare paper houses to release into the sea as part of the Ghost Month festival in Keelung, Taiwan, Aug. 20, 2013.
Paper houses are burnt at sea to retrieve ghosts and lonely spirits from the underworld through waterways leading back to the land.
On the 14th day of the 7th lunar month, it is believed that the gates of the underworld are opened for the spirits of the departed to come back to the land for a month-long period of universal salvation in the land of the living.
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An Ethnic Chinese girl watches Hungry Ghost festivities in Kajang, in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Aug. 16, 2013.
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Chinese devotees watch fireworks after setting fire to a 20-foot-high paper statue of the Chinese deity "Da Shi Ye" or Guardian God of Ghosts, Aug. 17, 2013.
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A devotee burns "hell money" during Hungry Ghost festivities in Kajang, Aug. 16, 2013.
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Devotees set fire to a 20-foot-high paper statue of Chinese deity "Da Shi Ye" during Hungry Ghost festivities in Kajang, Aug. 16, 2013.
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A devotee handles lit incense sticks during the Hungry Ghost festivities in Kajang, Aug. 16, 2013.
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A devotee arranges statues to set on fire during the Hungry Ghost festival in Kajang, Aug. 16, 2013.
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Participants prepare paper houses for release into the sea to celebrate the mid-summer Ghost Month festival in Keelung, Taiwan, Aug. 20, 2013.
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Water lanterns are released into the sea to celebrate the Ghost Month festival in Keelung, Taiwan, Aug. 20, 2013 .
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Participants carry paper houses to the shore for release into the sea to celebrate the mid-summer Ghost Month Festival in Keelung, Taiwan, Aug. 20, 2013 .
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Family members offer prayers to their deceased relatives while burning paper money to mark the Ghost Festival at Longhua Temple in Shanghai, China, Aug. 21, 2013.
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A man offers prayers to his deceased relatives during the Ghost Festival at Longhua Temple in Shanghai, China, Aug. 21, 2013.
