
As a child cries in the background covered in blood, this young girl is preparing to feel a blade slice open her skin.

The young Shia Muslim was taking part in a ceremony to mark the Muslim festival of Ashura, which mourns the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.

It is marked by 10 days of mourning, in which many devotees whip and cut themselves with chains and knives and some drive knives into their scalps and is seen as a way of washing away their sins.

As a child cries in the background covered in blood, this young girl is preparing to feel a blade slice open her skin

Photographs taken today show young boys parade down the street slapping their claret-stained chests in an act of flagellation

Indian Shia Muslim men self-flagellate during the mourning procession on the tenth day of Muharram, which marks the day of Ashura, in Chennai

The weapons of self-flagellation used in the Muslim festival pictured here soaked in blood at the festival in Chennai

In one particularly disturbing photo, a man wearing a blood-splattered shirt has sliced a huge gash in the top of his head and appears to be slapping it

The act of punishing oneself is part of the Muslim festival, and as the women line the streets beating their chests, topless men and boys whip themselves with knives and razorblades leaving to give themselves nasty back wounds

The pictures were taken in Chennai during the mourning procession on the tenth day of Muharram, which marks the day of Ashura

An Indian Shia Muslim boy stares intently at a sharp knife before he is flagellated during the mourning procession

Shia Muslim women beat their chests during the religious procession on the tenth day of the mourning period of Muharram

The pictures above were taken in Chennai during the mourning procession on the tenth day of Muharram, which marks the day of Ashura.

Ashura mourns the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, who was killed by armies of the Yazid near Karbala in 680 AD.

In the picture of the girl with the knife held to her head, a child can be seen in the background.

The youngster is sucking a dummy, with a blood-smeared forehead and clearly distressed.

Other photographs taken today show young boys are paraded down the street as they slap their claret-stained chests in an act of flagellation.

The act of punishing oneself is part of the Muslim festival, and as the women line the streets beating their chests, topless men and boys whip themselves with knives and razorblades leaving to give themselves nasty back wounds.

In one particularly disturbing photo, a man wearing a blood-splattered shirt has sliced a huge gash in the top of his head and appears to be slapping it.

The religious festival is celebrated widely in and in Baghdad yesterday a blood-stained Shiite boy clutching a huge knife joined his young friends in the bloody ceremony.

Iraq saw some of the goriest scenes, with huge groups of blood-drenched men flooding the cities' streets.

Two Iraqi Muslims drench in their own thick blood after slashing their scalps in the gory Islamic festival

Lebanese Shiite Muslim children coverd in blood during a flagellation ceremony in southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh

A young boy braces himself for a knife across the head in the Iraqi city of Najaf on October 12, 2016

Huge groups of men walk the streets of Baghdad wielding sharp knives they crash down on their own heads

A young boy bows his head to an elder, who takes a long knife to the child's scalp to add more blood to his gown

Who men walk hand in hand in Najaf, Iraq, as the man on the right looks to be struggling with the blood loss

Like a scene from a horror movie, a massive group of men walk through the streets of the holy city of Najaf, Iraq, drenched in blood

Iraqi Shiite Muslim boy is seen before being cut on the head, in ritual commemorating the death of Imam Hussein,Prophet Mohammed's grandson

An Iraqi Shiite Muslim man flagellates himself on the tenth day of the mourning period of Muharram, which marks the day of Ashura

Iraq Shi'ite Muslim men bleed as they gash their foreheads with swords and beat themselves while commemorating Ashura in Baghdad, Iraq

Iraqi Shiites take part in commemorations on the tenth day of the mourning period of Muharram, which marks the day of Ashura, in the holy city of Najaf

And the ritual is not exclusive to Asia either.

In Piraeus port near Athens in Greece, the Ashoura festival was in full flow today.

Topless men roamed the streets with huge knives and over-sized razorblades to take chunks out of their own backs for their religion.

More than 6,000 Muslim shiites, including citizens and refugees, live in the country.

They pray at four makeshift mosques, according to the Shiites Muslim Association of Greece.

A Shiite Muslim living in Greece flagellates himself during a Muharram procession to mark Ashura in Piraeus, near Athens

A man takes a modified weapon to cut his own back as onlookers watch him and drum their chests with their hands

Two Muslims use the over-sized razorblades to puncture huge gashes in their backs in the streets of Piraeus, Greece

One man holds his head in his hands as he lets out a scream (foreground) others grimaces at the ceremony in Greece

Massive crowds gather to take part and watch as a man prepares to launch knives into his back in the street

An audience poised with mobile phones to film and take pictures of a man flagellating himself in public

Shiite Muslims living in Greece take part in a Muharram procession to mark Ashura in Piraeus, near Athens, Greece

A Shiite flagellates himself in front of Zul jinnah, a horse symbolizing the horse Shiites' spiritual leader Imam Hussein used to fight against his enemy in Karbala, during the holy day of Ashoura in Piraeus port, near Athens, on Wednesday

Bloodied knives are swung in Greek streets as a group of men slice themselves open - and the scars are evident

A Shiite holds knifes during the holy day of Ashoura in Piraeus port, near Athens, Wednesday

An Iraqi Shiite boy looks at his picture during the reenactment of the Battle of Karbala, as part of a parade in preparation for the peak of the mourning period of Ashura in Baghdad's northern district of Kadhimiya

Iraqi Shiite boys take part in a self-flagellation procession during the reenactment of the Battle of Karbala, as part of a parade in preparation for the peak of the mourning period of Ashura

A Pakistani Shiite Muslim boy prepares to flagellate himself with chains and blades a day ahead of the commemoration of Ashura, in Peshawar, Pakistan

Shiite Muslims around the world attend mourning processions a ahead of the commemoration of Ashura. The practice of devotees whipping and cutting themselves has divided Muslim leaders

The sombre festival, which commemorates Imam Hussein's martyrdom, is marked with ten days of mourning

Pictures from the parade in Peshawar show men and boys covered in blood after hitting themselves with blades and chains

The festival of Ashura falls each year on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic lunar year, and mourns the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, who was killed by armies of the Yazid near the Iraqi city of Karbala in 680 AD.

The sombre festival, which commemorates Imam Hussein's martyrdom, is marked with ten days of mourning, with religious Muharram processions taking place, in which many devotees whip and cut themselves with chains and knives.

In a similar procession yesterday in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, medics were on hand to stitch men's wounds back together after they but their backs during the self-flagellation parade.

It's not just men and boys who are subjected to the religious ritual, with girls, women and even babies in Lebanon forced to shed blood in the name of Allah.

A medic stands near a Shiite Muslim boy with his face covered in blood after he was cut on the forehead with a razor during a religious procession to mark Ashura in Nabatiyeh town, southern Lebanon

A woman braces herself as a Muslim man prepares to draw blood from her scalp while a second man drenched in his own blood watches on

A shiite Muslim boy bleeds profusely after slashing his head with a razorblade

A baby bleeds from a cut on the forehead with a razor during the religious ritual to mark Ashura in Nabatiyeh town, Lebanon

Men in Islamabad had to be attended to by medics after cutting their backs during a Muharram procession

Several of the men and boys opened up large wounds that had to be stitched back together by doctors

The tradition of blood-letting in the run up to Ashura is seen by some as a way of washing away their sins

Ashura will be marked today across the globe, though the festival began for observant Muslims at sunset yesterday, and in some countries the day before is also a public holiday.

The tradition of blood-letting in the run up to Ashura is seen by some as a way of washing away their sins, but the practice has stirred controversy with some religious leaders saying it has no basis in Islamic history and creates a negative image, encouraging people to donate blood instead.

Young children were among those who took place in a Muharram procession in Ahmadabad, India, on Sunday

Afghan Shiite Muslims also used chains and blades during a ritual self-flagellation as part of Ashura commemorations at a mosque in Kabul

The mosque floor was covered in crimson blood following the commemorations in Kabul

The way the event is marked lies at the heart of the divide between Islam's Shia and Sunni sects, and in recent years, there have been a spate of attacks on Ashura celebrations by Sunni extremist groups who regard Shiites as heretics.

On Sunday gruesome pictures emerged showing a man holding a knife to the head of a young boy in Ahmadabad, India where boys were also pictured whipping themselves with sharp blades.

An Indian Shiite Muslim cut the forehead of a child with a knife during a Muharram procession in Ahmadabad, which also took place on Sunday

In Myanmar Shiite Muslim devotees ran barefoot over a bed of burning coals as part of the commemorations

The climax of the Muharram is reached on its tenth day with the marking of the Ashura festival

Pictures from Kabul, Afghanistan also showed men crying out in pain as they used knives attached to chains to cut their own backs at a mosque.

Other photographs, taken in Myanmar yesterday, show devotees in the capital of Yangoon walking across hot coals to mark the Muslim festival.

Ashura is one of the major fixtures of the Islamic calendar, and thousands of men perform the same brutal practice around the world in countries including Lebanon, Bangladesh, Iraq, Pakistan and Myanmar and even in Greece.