Spiritual and religious
Rites, prayers, pilgrimages, fasts and sacred days.
Spiritual and religious traditions are the rites that people keep to connect with the sacred: prayers, pilgrimages, fasts, blessings, holy days and the ceremonies of temples, churches, mosques, synagogues and shrines. They are among the oldest traditions in the world and often the most deeply felt. Here they are described as those who keep them would describe them, with care for what is sacred, and without ranking one faith above another. Browse by country, faith or season to see how the same human need is met in many ways.
Worship in daily life
For many people, the spiritual life is lived at home and in small acts: a morning prayer, a lit lamp, grace before a meal, a head covered or shoes removed at a door. Shrines in the kitchen, a prayer mat, a mezuzah on the doorpost and a rosary in the pocket all belong here. The big public rites rest on this quiet daily practice, and it is often a grandmother or a parent who teaches it, by doing it every day without comment.
Sacred time and place
Every faith marks sacred time: a weekly day of rest or prayer, a month of fasting, a festival of light, a season of penitence. Each also marks sacred places, from a river bank to a mountain, a cathedral to a village shrine. Pilgrims travel to them, and the journey itself is part of the rite. Calendars differ, some tied to the moon, others to the sun, so the dates move from year to year and are listed on the EveryParampara calendar.
Meeting across faiths
People of different faiths live side by side, and many traditions overlap or borrow. Neighbours share each other's festival sweets, attend each other's weddings and join in public celebrations such as Christmas markets or Diwali fairs. EveryParampara writes about each tradition on its own terms and cites the people who keep it. Where beliefs are contested, the page says so, and sacred matters are treated with respect.
About this page
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Spiritual and religious (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.
🇯🇵 Tokushima, JapanAwa Dance Festival阿波踊り
A summer street dance festival held in Tokushima during the Buddhist season of ObonFestival
🇮🇳 Pushkar, IndiaPushkar FairKartik Mela
An annual camel and livestock fair with lake pilgrimage rites in Rajasthan, IndiaFestival
🇧🇪 Bruges, BelgiumProcession of the Holy BloodHeilig Bloedprocessie
An annual sacred parade and historical pageant through the streets of Bruges, Belgium.Spiritual
🇪🇬 Thebes, EgyptSed festivalḥb-sd
An ancient Egyptian royal jubilee marking thirty years of a pharaoh's ruleCeremony
🇪🇹 Lalibela, Ethiopia and 1 moreTimkatጥምቀት
The Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Epiphany celebrating the baptism of JesusSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇹 Lalibela, Ethiopia and 1 moreEthiopian Christmasገና
The Christian Nativity feast, marked by night vigils, white garments and field hockeySpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaPushkaram
A river worship festival rotating across twelve sacred Indian rivers over twelve yearsSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaVat PurnimaVaṭapūrṇimā
An annual Hindu festival where married women fast and pray around a banyan treeSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇳 Hyderabad, India and 3 moreBonalu
An annual festival of thanksgiving to Goddess Mahakali across Telangana, IndiaFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Amritsar, IndiaBandi Chhor Divasਬੰਦੀ ਛੋੜ ਦਿਵਸ
A Sikh festival of liberation marking the release of Guru Hargobind and fifty-two princes from Mughal imprisonment.Festival
🇺🇸 United StatesMakahiki
A four-month Hawaiian new year season of peace, harvest gifts, feasts and gamesSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇧🇷 Salvador, BrazilLavagem do Bonfim
An annual inter-religious procession and cleansing ritual in Salvador, BrazilSpiritual
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMothering Sunday
A mid-Lent Christian observance and family celebration of mothers and mother churchesSeasonal · Breakfast
🇮🇳 Madurai, IndiaMeenakshi TirukalyanamChithirai Thiruvizha
A two-week festival in Madurai celebrating the divine wedding of Meenakshi and Shiva.Festival
🇲🇽 Mexico City, MexicoPassion Play of Iztapalapa
A community passion play staged across Iztapalapa during Holy WeekSpiritual
🇳🇵 NepalMha Pujaम्हपुजा
A Newar New Year ritual of self-worship, mandalas and renewal in NepalSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇹🇭 Chiang Mai, Thailand and 1 moreYi Pengยี่เป็ง
A northern Thai Buddhist festival of sky lanterns, clay lamps and temple sermonsSpiritual
🇵🇸 Jericho, PalestineNabi Musaٱلنَّبِي مُوْسَى
An annual Palestinian Muslim pilgrimage and festival honoring the prophet MosesSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇷🇺 Moscow, Russia and 5 morePalm Sunday
A Christian Sunday feast marking Jesus's entry into Jerusalem with blessed branches.Spiritual
🇰🇭 CambodiaPchum Benភ្ជុំបិណ្ឌ
A fifteen-day Cambodian Buddhist festival honouring ancestors with food and prayersSpiritual
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreZaduszkiZaduszki, Dzień Zaduszny
A Polish day of prayer for the dead on 2 November, kept with candles at the gravesSpiritual
🇵🇭 Philippines and 3 moreManoPagmamano
A Filipino greeting where a younger person bows and asks an elder for a blessingEtiquette
🇵🇱 Poland and 5 moreŚwięconka
The Polish Holy Saturday blessing of baskets filled with Easter morning foodSpiritual
🇦🇫 Kabul, Afghanistan and 1 moreBurqa
A garment covering the body and face, worn by some Muslim womenDress
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 2 moreNiqabنِقاب
A face veil worn by some Muslim women, hiding all but the eyesDress
🇮🇳 IndiaBharatanatyam
A South Indian temple dance of set poses, hand gestures and rhythm, now danced on stagePerformance
🇮🇩 Uluwatu, IndonesiaKecakᬓᬾᬘᬓ᭄ (Balinese), Tari Kecak (Indonesian)
A circle of men chanting chak as they dance the Ramayana epic in BaliPerformance
🇮🇳 Ayodhya, IndiaTilakaतिलक
A forehead mark worn by Hindus and Jains, at home, at temple and on special daysDress
🇮🇳 Varanasi, India and 5 moreRamlilaरामलीला
Open-air community plays staged across autumn nights, recounting the journey of Rama.Performance
🇬🇧 United KingdomLammashlāfmæsse
A harvest festival marking the blessing of the first baked bread from the new wheat cropSeasonal
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreSamhain
A Gaelic festival marking the start of winter with bonfires and ancestor feastsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇳 ChinaChinese funeral rituals
Traditional rites of mourning, vigils, offerings, and ancestor veneration across ChinaRite of passage
🇱🇰 Sri LankaPoruwa ceremony
A Sinhalese wedding rite held on a decorated wooden platform called a PoruwaRite of passage
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 5 moreBar and bat mitzvahבַּר מִצְוָה / בַּת מִצְוָה
A Jewish rite of passage marking when youth reach adulthood and take responsibility for their own actions.Rite of passage · Feasts and festival meals
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreJoss paper金紙 (jīnzhǐ)
Paper money burned for ancestors and gods, folded and offered in Chinese worshipSpiritual
🇳🇿 Waitangi, New ZealandPōwhiri
A formal Māori welcome onto a marae, with calls, speeches, song and the hongiEtiquette
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 moreFour speciesארבעת המינים (Arba'at HaMinim)
A ritual waving of four plants during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.Spiritual
🇮🇱 Safed, Israel and 5 moreHakafotהַקָּפוֹת
Circling the synagogue platform with the Torah scrolls, at Sukkot and Simchat TorahSpiritual
🇨🇱 Chile and 1 moreWe TripantuWiñoy Tripantu
The Mapuche new year, kept on the June solstice as the sun turns backFestival
🇭🇰 Cheung Chau, Hong KongCheung Chau Bun Festival包山節
A week of vegetarian days, bun towers and a midnight scramble on a Hong Kong islandFestival
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 3 moreHanukkah menorah
A nine-branched lamp that gains one more flame on each of Hanukkah's eight nightsSpiritual
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreLord's DayKyriake hemera
Sunday, the weekly day of Christian worship, kept as a memory of the resurrectionSpiritual
🇮🇱 Israel and 5 moreChallahחַלָּה
A braided Jewish bread, blessed and shared at Shabbat and holiday tablesTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇹 Venice, Italy and 5 moreCarnival
A season of parades, masks and feasting in the days before LentFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanJapanese tea ceremony茶道 (Sadō / Chadō), 茶の湯 (Chanoyu)
The formal serving of powdered matcha, shaped by Zen, Shinto and wabiTable custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies
🇦🇲 Yerevan, Armenia and 5 moreKhachkarխաչքար
A carved stone cross raised as a memorial, a grave marker and a prayer in stoneCraft
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 5 moreThroat singing
Several deep, guttural singing styles, each named and kept by its own peoplePerformance
🇮🇪 Uisneach, Ireland and 1 moreBeltaneBealtaine
A Gaelic first-of-summer festival of bonfires, May flowers and feasting on 1 MaySeasonal
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Awa Dance Festival: Rosino, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Pushkar Fair: sheetal saini, CC BY 2.0, source
- Procession of the Holy Blood: Cbl62, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sed festival: EbonyLabelOfDen-BritishMuseum-August19-08.jpg : CaptMondo, CC BY 2.5, source
- Timkat: Jean Rebiffé, CC BY 4.0, source
- Ethiopian Christmas: Tanjagari, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pushkaram: Adityamadhav83, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vat Purnima: Kiran Gopi, CC BY-SA 2.5 in, source
- Bonalu: Randhirreddy at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bandi Chhor Divas: UrbanUrban_ru, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Makahiki: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Lavagem do Bonfim: Adenilson Nunes/ AGECOM, CC BY 2.0, source
- Mothering Sunday: Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Meenakshi Tirukalyanam: எஸ். பி. கிருஷ்ணமூர்த்தி, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Passion Play of Iztapalapa: Eneas De Troya, CC BY 2.0, source
- Mha Puja: Karrattul, Public domain, source
- Yi Peng: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nabi Musa: Mujaddara, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Palm Sunday: Pietro Lorenzetti, Public domain, source
- Pchum Ben: Saphabodi, CC0, source
- Zaduszki: Ivan Mrkvička, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mano: TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO, Public domain, source
- Święconka: Błażej Benisz, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Burqa: [1], CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Niqab: Adam Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Bharatanatyam: Arian Zwegers, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kecak: Rollan Budi, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Tilaka: Robert Vane Russell (1873-1915), Public domain, source
- Ramlila: Ankit Gupta, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lammas: Paddy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Samhain: Daniel Maclise, Public domain, source
- Chinese funeral rituals: Salzmann, E.v., CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
- Poruwa ceremony: A Derivative Work by MediaJet ,, CC BY 2.0, source
- Bar and bat mitzvah: Peter van der Sluijs, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Joss paper: Vmenkov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pōwhiri: Governor General of New Zealand, CC BY 4.0, source
- Four species: עוטה אור, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hakafot: Meir624, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- We Tripantu: Lonkonao, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cheung Chau Bun Festival: ．怪貓．, CC BY 2.0, source
- Shabbat meals: Yoninah, Public domain, source
- Hanukkah menorah: Musée d'art et d'histoire du Judaïsme, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lord's Day: Globetrotter19, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Carnival: Etienne Le Cocq, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Japanese tea ceremony: Photograph taken by Stephane D'Alu ( en:User:Sdalu ) in April 2004, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Khachkar: Arantz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Throat singing: Bill Loewy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Beltane: Stefan Schäfer, Lich, CC BY-SA 3.0, source