Seasons, harvest and the calendar
Customs tied to a season, a harvest, a moon or a day of the week.
Seasonal and calendar traditions follow the turning of the year: the first thaw, the monsoon, the harvest, the longest night, the new moon. They also follow the days of the week, with Friday prayers, Sunday roast and Monday fasts. Because these customs are tied to nature and time, they appear almost everywhere, though each place names and keeps them in its own way. EveryParampara links them to the live calendar, so that you can see what is being kept today and what is coming in the year ahead.
Seasons and harvests
Farming societies marked the sowing, the first fruits and the harvest with offerings and feasts, and many of those festivals are still kept: Pongal, Chuseok, Thanksgiving, the New Yam Festival. Spring brings festivals of renewal, from Nowruz to Holi and Easter, and midwinter brings fire and light. In the tropics the rains rather than the temperature set the year, and festivals greet their arrival or their end.
Moons, weeks and days
Lunar calendars shape the dates of Ramadan, Lunar New Year, Vesak, Diwali and the Jewish festivals, so the dates move against the solar year. The week has its own rhythm, with a day of rest, a day of market and days of fasting for particular gods. EveryParampara's calendar and weekday pages show these patterns, so a visitor can see why Friday is couscous in Morocco and Saturday is Shabbat in Israel.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Seasons, harvest and the calendar (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.
🇱🇰 Sri LankaKiribathකිරිබත්
Rice cooked in coconut milk, the dish of Sinhalese New Year and family beginningsTable custom · Breakfast
🇵🇰 Pakistan and 3 moreChaand Raatचाँद रात, چاند رات
The South Asian night of moon-sighting and celebration before EidFestival
🇱🇰 Anuradhapura, Sri LankaSinhala New Yearඅලුත් අවුරුද්ද
The April solar New Year and harvest festival celebrated across Sri LankaSeasonal
🇧🇩 Dhaka, BangladeshPohela Falgunপহেলা ফাল্গুন
A Bangladeshi festival welcoming the first day of spring with music and flowersSeasonal
🇮🇳 IndiaPushkaram
A river worship festival rotating across twelve sacred Indian rivers over twelve yearsSpiritual
🇮🇳 Ujjain, India and 1 moreVikram Samvatविक्रमसंवत्
A lunisolar Hindu calendar of Nepal and India, its years counted 57 ahead of the GregorianSeasonal
🇳🇵 NepalMha Pujaम्हपुजा
A Newar New Year ritual of self-worship, mandalas and renewal in NepalSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Madurai, IndiaJallikattuஜல்லிக்கட்டு
A traditional bull-embracing event held during harvest celebrations in Tamil NaduGame
🇧🇩 BangladeshNight of Powerليلة القدر
The night Muslims believe the Quran first came down, sought in Ramadan's last ten nightsSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreNativity of Mary
A Christian feast day honouring the birth of Mary, the mother of JesusSpiritual · Lunch
🇵🇰 Islamabad, Pakistan and 1 morePakistan Dayیومِ پاکستان
Pakistan's national day on 23 March: the 1940 Lahore Resolution and the 1956 constitutionCeremony
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 moreVictory Dayবিজয় দিবস
Bangladesh's national day on 16 December, marking the 1971 surrender that made the stateCeremony
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreYouth Day
A commemorative holiday honoring young people and youth movements worldwideCeremony
🇮🇳 IndiaMonlam Prayer Festival
A Tibetan Buddhist festival of mass prayers, sacred dances and ritual offeringsSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaNational Unity Dayराष्ट्रीय एकता दिवस
An annual Indian observance honouring Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on 31 OctoberCeremony
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreJur Sitalजुड़ शीतल
The first day of the Maithil year, kept with a rice meal, gifts and water blessingsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Muhamma, India and 5 moreAkhiri Chahar Shambah
A day of bathing, prayer and charity on the last Wednesday of SafarSpiritual
🇮🇳 Santiniketan, India and 1 moreRabindra Jayanti
An annual Bengali festival celebrating Rabindranath Tagore with music, drama and verseFestival
🇮🇳 IndiaNirjala Ekadashiनिर्जला एकादशी
A rigorous, waterless Hindu fast observed in early summer to honour the god Vishnu.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇲🇻 MaldivesMaahefun
A Maldivian gathering for the last meal before the Ramadan fast beginsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Mumbai, IndiaAgeraआगेरा
Mumbai's East Indian Catholics give thanks for the harvest on the first Sunday of OctoberFestival
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreMadhushravaniमधुश्रावणी
A fifteen-day Mithila festival of fasting, worship and song for newly married bridesSpiritual
🇮🇳 Chennai, IndiaMadras Music Season
Nine weeks of Carnatic concerts in Chennai, from mid-November to JanuaryPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreChampa Chandan Vrataচাঁপা চন্দন ব্রত
A month-long vow kept by unmarried Bengali girls, asking for a husband like ShivaSpiritual
🇧🇹 Punakha, BhutanTraditional Day of OfferingBuelwa Phuewi Nyim
A Bhutanese New Year marked by offerings to Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and family feasts.Festival · Breakfast
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreMahalakshmia jo Sagroمَھالڪشميءَ جو سڳڙو / महालक्ष्मीअ जो सॻड़ो
A sixteen-day Hindu fast and prayer dedicated to the goddess of wealthSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇧🇹 Bhutan and 5 moreLhabab Duchenལྷ་བབས་དུས་ཆེན་
A Buddhist festival for the day the Buddha returned to earth from a god's realmSpiritual
🇧🇹 BhutanNgenpa Gudzomངན་པ་དགུ་འཛོམས
A Bhutanese day of pause and games during an inauspicious astrological periodSeasonal
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Kiribath: AntanO, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Night of Power: M sh شراونة محمد, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Madras Music Season: Martin spaink, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Victory Day: Jubair1985, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Akhiri Chahar Shambah: Hans Kyoto, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jur Sital: PCNWorld at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nativity of Mary: Giotto, Public domain, source
- Nirjala Ekadashi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Monlam Prayer Festival: Evan-Lovely, CC BY 2.0, source
- Youth Day: Andrey Butko, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pakistan Day: Imniazi001, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rabindra Jayanti: Generalstabens litografiska anstalt, Public domain, source
- Chaand Raat: Phadke09, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sinhala New Year: Anna Anichkova, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pohela Falgun: Ashraf Siddiqui, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Pushkaram: Adityamadhav83, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vikram Samvat: Westindischer Maler um 1400, Public domain, source
- Mha Puja: Karrattul, Public domain, source
- Jallikattu: Mahendrabalan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Agera: Tiven Gonsalves, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Madhushravani: Monika Jha, CC0, source
- Maahefun: Ibrahim Asad, CC BY-SA 3.0, source