LOS ANGELES, 26 February 2008 (BWNS) -- Baha'is around the world will arise for prayers before sunup on March 2 as they begin their yearly fasting period - "an annual renewal of faith," says Emerson Boergadine, a young photographer in Los Angeles.

"It's an invigoration, an annual cleansing," he said of the fast, which is a special time for prayer and also involves abstaining from food and drink between sunrise and sundown for 19 straight days.