Music, dance and storytelling
Songs, dances, theatre, epic poetry and oral history.
Music, dance and storytelling traditions are the performances that a community passes down by ear, eye and heart: the epic poem recited by a griot, the dance in a circle at a wedding, the shadow play of Java, the ballad of a village, the lullaby of a grandmother. They carry history, law and humour in forms that people can remember. Many are linked to festivals and rites, and many are on UNESCO's lists of intangible heritage. Here they are gathered by country, with notes on who performs them and when.
Songs and dances of the people
Folk music and dance are community property: they are learnt by joining in, not by lessons, and they change a little with every generation. Circle dances, line dances and couple dances accompany harvests and weddings, and instruments such as the drum, the fiddle, the pipe and the lute are made locally. In many places, there are separate songs for work, for love, for mourning and for children, and each has its own time and place.
Stories and theatre
Oral storytelling holds a society's memory: epics, myths, fables, proverbs and riddles told by elders. Some become formal theatre, such as kabuki and noh in Japan, wayang in Indonesia, the mumming plays of Britain or the Ramlila of India, which retells the Ramayana in a month of evenings. These forms often depend on one master teaching one student, and communities and governments now support them to keep them alive.
About this page
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Music, dance and storytelling (kind of tradition). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇮🇳 IndiaTheyyam
A sacred ritual dance and divine invocation from North Malabar in IndiaSpiritual
🇮🇳 Jammu, IndiaBhangra
A Punjabi harvest dance, first kept by farmers and now performed worldwidePerformance
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreGhazalغَزَل
A short rhyming poem of love and parting, recited and sung from Arabia to South AsiaPerformance
🇮🇳 Kolkata, IndiaJana Gana Mana
India's national anthem, from a Bengali hymn of 1911, sung at civic occasionsCeremony
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaPulikaliപുലിക്കളി
Painted tigers and leopards dance through Thrissur on the fourth day of OnamPerformance
🇵🇰 Islamabad, Pakistan and 2 moreQawwaliقَوّالی
Devotional Sufi singing from South Asia, led by hereditary parties at shrinesPerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaSatsangसत्सङ्ग
Sitting in the company of truth, to hear, sing and meditate in northern IndiaSpiritual
🇱🇰 Kandy, Sri LankaKandyan danceඋඩරට නැටුම්
The sacred dance of Sri Lanka's hill country, kept in temple and on the stagePerformance
🇵🇰 Karachi, Pakistan and 2 moreSouth Asian truck art
The craft of painting and adorning cargo trucks and buses across India and Pakistan.Craft
🇲🇻 MaldivesRaivaru
Unaccompanied Maldivian singing built on intricate syllable and verse patternsPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDandiya Raas
A stick dance from Gujarat performed in pairs during the festival of NavaratriPerformance
🇮🇳 Gwalior, India and 1 moreDhrupadध्रुवपद
The foundational vocal and instrumental classical music tradition of northern IndiaPerformance
🇮🇳 Goa, India and 2 moreShehnai
A traditional reed instrument played at weddings and temple festivals across IndiaPerformance
🇮🇳 Puri, India and 1 morePattachitra
A cloth scroll painting tradition from eastern India featuring mythological stories and folk tales.Performance
🇮🇳 IndiaWarli painting
Sacred white rice paste murals made on red clay walls in western IndiaCraft
🇮🇳 IndiaPandavani
A folk singing tradition from central India that retells episodes of the Mahabharata epic through music and theatrical nPerformance
🇦🇫 Kabul, Afghanistan and 1 moreAttanاتڼ
A Pashtun circle dance of drums and clapping, kept at weddings and gatherings.Performance
🇲🇻 MaldivesBoduberuބޮޑުބެރު
A Maldivian drumming and dance tradition performed by groups of common citizens.Performance
🇮🇳 Amritsar, India and 1 moreGatkaਗੱਤਕਾ (Gurmukhi) / گَتّکا (Shahmukhi)
A Sikh martial art of stick-fighting and sword dance from the Punjab region.Performance
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreTribal youth dormitoryMorung
A communal house where a tribe's unmarried young people sleep, learn and serveRite of passage
🇮🇳 Alappuzha, IndiaNehru Trophy Boat Race
An annual longboat race held on Punnamada Lake in Kerala, India.Festival
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaKerala mural painting
Frescoes of Hindu deities painted on temple and palace walls in Kerala, India.Performance
🇮🇳 Guwahati, IndiaBihu dance
A folk dance from Assam that celebrates spring, fertility and the new year with energetic movement and music.Performance
🇮🇳 Vrindavan, IndiaRaslilaरासलीला (Rāsalīlā)
A traditional Indian dance and folk theatre performance depicting the divine love of Krishna and the gopis.Performance
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreGiddhaਗਿੱਧਾ
A lively circle dance of women from the Punjab region, performed with clapping and call-and-response songs.Performance
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaPanchavadyamപഞ്ചവാദ്യം
A Kerala temple orchestra of five instruments that builds rhythm from slow to fast over two hoursPerformance
🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 moreMani stone
Inscribed stones placed along trails in Tibetan Buddhist regions as devotional offerings.Spiritual
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaThrissur Pooramതൃശ്ശൂര് പൂരം
A grand Kerala temple gathering with elephant pageantry, percussion, and fireworksFestival
🇧🇩 Bangladesh and 1 moreAlpanaআলপনা (Alpona)
A Bengali floor painting tradition using rice flour paste to mark festivals and rituals.Performance
🇮🇳 Mysuru, India and 2 moreVijayadashamiविजयदशमी (Vijayadaśamī)
A Hindu festival marking the end of Navaratri, celebrating the victory of good over evil across India and Nepal.Festival
🇮🇳 Kochi, India and 5 moreOnamഓണം
A ten-day harvest festival in Kerala celebrating the return of King Mahabali with feasts, flower carpets and boat races.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Guwahati, IndiaBihuবিহু (Assamese)
Three annual festivals in Assam marking the new year, crop cycles and harvest with dance, music and feasts.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇧🇹 Thimphu, BhutanTshechuཚེས་བཅུ།
Annual Bhutanese Buddhist festivals of sacred Cham dances and colossal cloth scrollsFestival
🇮🇳 Kolkata, IndiaDurga Puja in Kolkataকলকাতার দুর্গাপূজা
The grand annual autumn festival honouring the mother goddess Durga across KolkataSpiritual
🇱🇰 Kandy, Sri LankaEsala Perahera
A Sri Lankan procession of sacred relics, drummers and elephants honouring the BuddhaSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreSohrai
A harvest and cattle observance kept by indigenous communities in eastern IndiaSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Kohima, IndiaHornbill Festival
A ten-day December gathering of Nagaland's ethnic groups, held at Kisama near KohimaFestival
🇮🇳 Guwahati, IndiaBohag Bihu
A multi-day Assamese New Year festival of cattle rites, music, gifts and feastsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Chidambaram, India and 1 moreThiruvathira
A Hindu festival celebrating Shiva's cosmic dance, observed in Tamil Nadu and Kerala with fasting, processions, and dancFestival
🇱🇰 Sri LankaSanni Yakuma
A Sinhalese rite where masked dancers summon eighteen illness demons and banish themSpiritual
🇮🇳 Ahmedabad, India and 1 moreGarbaगर्भ
A Gujarati circle dance performed around a sacred flame during the festival of NavratriPerformance
🇮🇳 Baripada, IndiaChhau dance
A masked dance of eastern India, blending martial steps with epic storiesPerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaBharatanatyam
A South Indian temple dance of set poses, hand gestures and rhythm, now danced on stagePerformance
🇮🇳 Varanasi, India and 5 moreRamlilaरामलीला
Open-air community plays staged across autumn nights, recounting the journey of Rama.Performance
🇵🇰 PakistanShandur Polo Festivalشندور چوگان میلہ
A three-day mountain polo competition played with freestyle rules in northern PakistanGame
🇮🇳 IndiaKoodiyattamകൂടിയാട്ടം
An ancient Sanskrit temple drama and dance tradition from Kerala, IndiaPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreChapchar KutChapchâr Kût
A spring festival of dance and food kept by the Mizo people in Mizoram, India.Festival
🇮🇳 Ahobilam, IndiaNarasimha Jayantiनरसिंहजयंती
A one-day Hindu festival marking Vishnu's man-lion avatar and the rescue of PrahladaSpiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bhangra: Jimmysekhon25, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Esala Perahera: Ashan96, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vijayadashami: DiplomatTesterMan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ghazal: Poem by Sa'di of Shiraz (13th century). 19th century manuscript, Public domain, source
- Onam: Jiteshgt, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jana Gana Mana: Rabindranath Tagore, Public domain, source
- Pulikali: Felix Francis, CC BY 2.0, source
- Tshechu: Stephen Shephard, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bihu: Diganta Talukdar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Qawwali: Saswat swarup mishra, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shandur Polo Festival: Addden321, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kandyan dance: PIERRE ANDRE LECLERCQ, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Theyyam: Shagil Kannur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Durga Puja in Kolkata: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, source
- South Asian truck art: Alexandros.Papadopoulos, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Bohag Bihu: Diganta Talukdar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Thiruvathira: Kalakki at Malayalam Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, source
- Chapchar Kut: Ramesh Lalwani, CC BY 2.0, source
- Garba: anurag agnihotri, CC BY 2.0, source
- Koodiyattam: Sreekanthv at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ramlila: Ankit Gupta, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Dandiya Raas: User:psubhashish, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shehnai: TAPAS KUMAR HALDER, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hornbill Festival: Vikramjit Kakati, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pattachitra: Unknown, Public domain, source
- Warli painting: Omrmankar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pandavani: Suyash Dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Boduberu: Suvalex, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bharatanatyam: Arian Zwegers, CC BY 2.0, source
- Gatka: Simon Speed, Public domain, source
- Tribal youth dormitory: Aravind Manickam, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nehru Trophy Boat Race: Varghesepunnamada, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kerala mural painting: Sivavkm, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bihu dance: Digantatalukdar, CC0, source
- Raslila: https://www.flickr.com/photos/matsukin/, CC BY 2.0, source
- Giddha: University of the Fraser Valley, CC BY 2.0, source
- Panchavadyam: Mahesh K, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mani stone: John Hill, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Thrissur Pooram: Rameshng, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Narasimha Jayanti: anonymous, Public domain, source
- Sanni Yakuma: Michael Gunther, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chhau dance: Skasish, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Alpana: Tripan123, CC BY-SA 4.0, source