Tens of thousands of virgin maidens danced Monday for Swaziland’s King Mswati III in a traditional reed dance at Ludzidzini palace outside the capital Mbabane.
The final day of the annual dance attracted a record 70,000 girls, some of them as young as six years of age.
The girls — dressed in colorful Swazi regalia — came from all corners of the mountain kingdom in a display of pride in their culture and virtue.