Ritualistic Self Flagellation at Ashura Festival in Karachi, Pakistan

A group of men perform a ritualistic form of self flagellation during the Ashura Festival in Karachi, Pakistan

The Ashura Festival is held on the 10th of the Islamic Month of Muharram and is commemorated by Shia Muslims as a day of mourning for the death of their Imam Hussain (the Grandson of the Prophet Mohammed) who was martyred at the Battle of Karballah, in what is now modern day Iraq, in the year 680 CE