celebrated on february 2nd in other parts of brazil, iemanjá is the deity who takes care of family heritage, bringing peace and harmony to a home.

Of all the offering days of the month, in rio de janeiro the day for iemanjá on december 31st is the most popular - as the date merges with new year's eve and offering rituals happen along the shores of copacabana beach, home of rio's main new year's eve celebrations.

while everyone's attention is focused on the upcoming new year's eve events, believers congregate on flamengo, leme, copacabana, ipanema, and leblon beach to worship iemanjá, the goddess of the sea.