Hundreds of members of the Universal White Brotherhood (upper right) perform a ritual dance some 80 miles (130 kilometers) from the Bulgarian capital of Sofia.

The group gathers every year in Rila, where it performs the nearly 80-year-old dance called Panevritmia.

The religious movement was founded in the late 19th century by Bulgarian Peter Deunov, whose teachings were inspired by esoteric Christianity and Gnosticism. According to Radio Bulgaria, the group's heyday was between the two World Wars

Photograph by Vassil Donev/EPA  

 

Copyright: National Geographic