Rolla Rounds

Prayer flags festoon a Bodhi tree at the Maya Devi Temple in Lumbini, Nepal, Buddha’s birthplace. Also known as the pipul or Bo tree, it is considered sacred because Guatama Buddha, the religion’s founder, reportedly sat under such a tree—the only place on earth, holy texts aver, that was perfectly stable—when he received enlightenment after meditating for 49 days. “Buddhists regard the Bo-tree as too sacred to be touched or robbed of a leaf,” Eliza Scidmore wrote of one of her journeys to the Far East in 1903. “Devout pilgrims kneel, fix their eyes upon it, and in a trance of prayer wait until a miraculous leaf detaches itself and flutters down.”

An openly gay Indian-American activist stands outside the historic Stonewall Inn after an event that raised funds for LGBTQ people in India. This photo originally appeared in a September 2018 story, called "Building a New American Dream" about South Asian Americans.

Klondike Beach, part of Florida’s longest undeveloped stretch of Atlantic Beach, provides a serene intracoastal backdrop that’s ideal for seeing the sun rise.

Red foxes wrestle in snowbound Ontario.

Fall marks the annual holiday of Diwali in India, a time to push away darkness in favor of light. The steps on the riverfront of the Ganges River are lit with many thousands of diyas.