Each New Year¡¯s Eve, more than 2 million revelers ¡ª twice as many as typically fill Times Square ¡ª dress in white and pack Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro to watch a 15-minute midnight fireworks extravaganza.

The one-night hedonistic release is one of the world¡¯s largest New Year¡¯s celebrations and leaves Copacabana¡¯s famed 2.4 miles of sand strewed with trash.

But it began as something far more spiritual.