Kosovo Dervishes, adepts of Sufism, a mystical form of Islam, attend a ceremony in a prayer room in Gjakova.
Chanting and swaying to the hypnotic rhythm of prayer until they reach a trance-like state, the group of Dervishes in Kosovo then pierce their cheeks with long needles, seemingly without pain or blood.
Considered as a mystic sect by fellow Muslims in Kosovo and Albania, the dozens of Sufi Dervishes from the Kadiri order gathered in western Gjakova for the centuries-old celebration of the spring equinox festival of "Sultan Nevruz".
