Eid al-Adha around the world – in pictures

Thousands of pilgrims arrive to throw pebbles at pillars during the 'jamarat' ritual symbolising the stoning of the devil in Mina near the holy city of Mecca Photograph: Fayez Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images

Chinese Muslims buy sheep to slaughter to mark the festival in Xining, Qinghai province Photograph: China Photos/Getty Images

Women offer prayers at a mosque on the outskirts of the Indian city of Ahmedabad on the eve of the festival Photograph: Amit Dave/Reuters

A man and children are silhouetted against the setting sun on their way to a mosque in Jammu, India Photograph: Mukesh Gupta/Reuters

Women attend prayer at the slopes of Mount Merapi in the village of Kalitengah Lor near the city of Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia Photograph: Dwi Oblo/Reuters

Palestinian girls walk towards Israeli soliders after prayers at the Ibrahimi Mosque or the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a religious site to both Muslims and Jews Photograph: Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images

Ethnic Turkish girls from the village of Cumpăna, Romania, wait to perform traditional dances in Bucharest during celebrations of the first day of Eid al-Adha Photograph: Vadim Ghirda/AP

A Bosnian Muslim boy looks on during early morning prayers in the village of Balacici Photograph: Dado Ruvic/Reuters

A Chechen boy prays in the main mosque in Grozny, Russia. Muslims in Russia call the festival Kurban-Bairam Photograph: Musa Sadulayev/AP

A family have their picture taken after a special morning prayer to mark the start of Eid al-Adha at a mosque in Silver Spring, Maryland Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

A boy keeps warm by a fire as he looks after a herd of sacrificial goats and sheep near the 17th-century Jama Masjid mosque in New Delhi before early-morning prayers Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

Devotees offer Eid al-Adha prayers at the Taj Mahal mausoleum in Agra, India Photograph: EPA

Animals are slaughtered at a madrassa in Lahore, Pakistan Photograph: K.M.Chaudary/AP

Sunni Muslims in Siminshahr, Iran, prepare to slaughter a camel Photograph: AP

Pilgrims pray at the Grand Mosque in Mecca to mark the end of the hajj Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters

The severed head of a sheep in a plastic bag during an Eid al-Adha ceremony in southern Tehran Photograph: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters