Salvador, the centre of the Candomble religion, is famous for its landmark lighthouse on the city beach.

Just climb a hundred steps and you will enter a house in a white-painted building situated in a slum in the city of Salvador, in the state of Bahia, Brazil.

To many Brazilians, it is a sacred dwelling.

Inside a dark room, a priest peers over a solitary candle in a corner, dressed in white robes. Someone brings in a gigantic basket of colourful fruits and places it on a table. The atmosphere is one of serenity.

The priest sits behind a table bedecked with a circle of crystals, miniature idols and brilliant stones, which look as if someone has just emptied the contents of a treasure chest. Then he takes 17 seashells and rubs them in the palms of his hands while chanting an incantation in Yoruba, the language of Nigeria.

Candomble: Brazil's African religion

Candomble at Alternative Religions