Day of the Dead, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' day celebrations

Mexico City celebrates the Day of the Dead with spectacular altars and monumental offerings mounted in several squares such as Santo Domingo and the Zocalo, both located in the heart of the huge metropolis.

One mega-offering was dedicated to Mexican painter Rufino Tamayo to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his death. Eighty-five tetrahedral altars, adorn the area, each dotted with colorful flowers and candles.

The altars were built and decorated by 1,500 artists, who are all part the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) community.

See the breathtaking celebrations:

Gabriela Leslie, who is from Los Angeles but has Mexican roots, said it was a pleasure to visit the country and its traditions.

"I think it's fantastic. My grandmother was from Mexico and she would always take me into the centre of Los Angeles and we would buy little artesanias (handicrafts) for our house and have our own little ceremony with an altar so it's good to come here and actually see it in full form and also connect with the place that I came from," Leslie said.

Fused with the Catholic festivals of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, the Day of the Dead is one of the most deep-rooted traditions in Mexico, celebrated by millions of people from Mayan Indians in the tropical south to urban professionals in Mexico City.

Drawing on beliefs that the dead can return from the underworld, the celebrations begin on November 1 with the Day of the Innocents to honor departed children, and ends with the Day of the Dead on November 2 for adults.

Nearby in Mexico City's Zocalo square, 120 colorful gondola-like boats called "trajineras" which were turned into altars.

The spectacular offering is called "Canto de Agua" (Song to Water) to commemorate how ancient residents moved around a complex canal system around Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire, which the Spanish razed in 1521 to found Mexico City, conquering the Aztecs.

The offering also voices concern about a lack of water in the capital.

Mexico's Day of the Dead celebrations are considered a Cultural Heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).