Cora Indian boys prepare themselves for the sacred ritual ceremony of Holy Week in Jesús María, Nayarit, Mexico.

---

Cora Indian boys, painting each other their bodies, prepare themselves for the sacred ritual ceremony of Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Jesús María, Nayarit, Mexico, 21 April 2011. The annual week-long Easter festivity (called “La Judea”), performed in the rugged mountain country of Sierra del Nayar, merges indigenous tradition (agricultural cycle and the regeneration of life worshipping) and animistic beliefs with the Christian dogma. Each year in the spring, the Cora villages are taken over by hundreds of wildly running men. Painted all over their semi-naked bodies, fighting ritual battles with wooden swords and dancing crazily, they perform demons (the evil) that metaphorically chase Jesus Christ, kill him, but finally fail due to his resurrection. La Judea, the Holy Week sacred spectacle, represents the most truthful expression of the Coras' culture, religiosity and identity.

---

Size: 5316px × 3544px
Location: Jesús María, Nayarit, Mexico
Photo credit: © Jan Sochor / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: america, belief, body, boy, catholic, ceremony, christianity, church, cora, costume, culture, dawn, del, demon, desert, easter, face, fiesta, holy, indians, indigenous, judea, la, latin, latino, madre, mask, masque, mexico, mountain, nayar, nayarit, occidental, painted, painting, religion, rite, ritual, river, rock, santa, semana, sierra, spirituality, sunrise, syncretism, tradition, warrior, week