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EveryParampara

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.

RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilRio CarnivalCarnaval do Rio de Janeiro Five days of samba parades, costumes and street parties in Rio, ending at LentFestival 🇲🇽 MexicoDanza de los ViejitosT'arche Uarakua A Purépecha masked dance honouring the sun and the four elements in MichoacánPerformance 🇮🇳 India and 5 moreGhazalغَزَل A short rhyming poem of love and parting, recited and sung from Arabia to South AsiaPerformance 🇲🇽 San Salvador Huixcolotla, Mexico and 1 morePapel picado A Mexican folk art of cutting intricate designs into tissue paper for festive and spiritual displays.Festival 🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanTorii鳥居 A traditional Japanese gate marking the entrance to a Shinto shrine and separating the sacred from the mundane.Spiritual 🇮🇪 Galway, Ireland and 1 moreBrigid's crossCros Bhríde A cross of woven rushes or straw, made for Saint Brigid's Day on the first of FebruaryCraft 🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDandiya Raas A stick dance from Gujarat performed in pairs during the festival of NavaratriPerformance 🇺🇸 New York, United States and 1 moreFortune-telling Reading cards, palms or tea leaves to tell a client what may lie aheadFolklore 🇹🇷 Konya, Turkey and 4 moreMevlevi OrderMevlevilik A Sufi tradition from Konya known for its whirling ceremony and devotion to Rumi's teachings.Spiritual 🇹🇻 TuvaluMusic of Tuvalu Rhythmic storytelling dances and choral singing from the Polynesian atolls of TuvaluPerformance 🇳🇬 Ibadan, Nigeria and 1 moreYoruba naming ceremonyÌkòlọ́pọ̀ Orúkọ Yorùbá A rite of passage where a newborn receives a destiny name through divination and family celebration.Rite of passage · Feasts and festival meals 🇮🇱 IsraelMishloach manotמשלוח מנות Food parcels exchanged on Purim, so everyone has plenty for the day's festive mealSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇵🇸 Jerusalem, Palestine and 2 moreStations of the CrossVia Crucis A Christian prayer journey following fourteen moments of the Passion of JesusSpiritual 🇲🇳 Mongolia and 3 moreOvooовоо (Cyrillic Mongolian); ᠣᠪᠤᠭ᠎ᠠ (Traditional Mongol) A stone cairn on a peak or pass, circled by travellers and honoured in sky worshipSpiritual 🇮🇳 India and 4 moreWater lantern Small lamps floated on water to honour the dead and ask for good fortuneFestival 🇲🇲 Yangon, MyanmarThadingyutသီတင်းကျွတ် A Burmese celebration and calendar month marking the completion of Buddhist Lent.Seasonal 🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreFinnish saunasauna A weekly bathing ritual of steam and heat, central to Finnish life and wellbeing.Home 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreChristmas carol Festive songs and hymns sung during the Christmas season and door to doorPerformance 🇹🇱 Timor-LesteUma Lulik Sacred ancestral clan houses and ritual shrines in East TimorSpiritual 🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilCapoeira An Afro-Brazilian martial art and musical game played inside a circleGame 🇮🇳 Mumbai, India and 1 moreFire templeآتشکده A consecrated sanctuary where Zoroastrians tend sacred fires and gather for worshipSpiritual 🇮🇩 IndonesiaOgoh-ogohᬳᭀᬕᭀᬄ​ᬳᭀᬕᭀᬄ Giant handcrafted statues paraded and burned on the eve of the Balinese Saka New YearFestival 🇮🇩 Ubud, IndonesiaBarongᬩᬭᭀᬂ A sacred Balinese masked dance drama depicting the eternal struggle of good and evilPerformance 🇮🇩 Indonesia and 2 moreKenduri A communal prayer meal and gathering shared across Indonesia, Malaysia and BruneiSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇮🇳 IndiaAtithi Devo Bhavaअतिथिदेवो भव A traditional Indian Hindu philosophy and campaign that treats guests with the reverence due to deities.Etiquette 🇭🇹 Haiti and 1 moreRara A Haitian street music of bamboo trumpets and drums, played in the Easter seasonPerformance 🇻🇦 Vatican City and 1 moreConclave Cardinals sealed in the Sistine Chapel, voting until two thirds agree on a new popeSpiritual 🇿🇦 South Africa and 5 moreSouthern African traditional healing Ancestral divination, herbal muthi, and spiritual care across Southern AfricaSpiritual 🇲🇼 Malawi and 3 moreNyau A secret society and masked dance tradition of the Chewa people in Southern Africa.Spiritual 🇮🇳 India and 1 moreKailash Mansarovar Yatraकैलाश मानसरोवर यात्रा (Hindi); ཀཱའི་ལ་ཤ་མན་ས་རོ་ཝར་ཡ་ཏྲ། (Tibetan) A high-altitude pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in TibetSpiritual 🇰🇷 South KoreaJesa제사 (Jesa) A Korean ancestral memorial ceremony held on death anniversaries and major holidays.Spiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇧🇭 Bahrain and 3 moreFann at-Tanburaفن الطنبورة A Gulf song and dance of drums and tanbura, born in healing, now stagedPerformance 🇸🇦 Mecca, Saudi ArabiaIhramإِحْرَام A sacred state and simple dress that Muslims enter for Hajj and UmrahSpiritual 🇲🇿 Island of Mozambique, MozambiqueTufo A women's dance of northern Mozambique, performed at Islamic feasts to drums and songPerformance 🇳🇿 New ZealandKarakia Māori incantations and prayers recited for spiritual guidance, safety and ceremonySpiritual 🇯🇵 JapanMiko巫女 A woman who serves at a Shinto shrine, dancing, cleansing and helping with ritesSpiritual 🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelShavuotשבועות A late-spring Jewish festival of the wheat harvest and the giving of the TorahSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals 🇮🇳 IndiaNamasteनमस्ते A respectful greeting made with joined palms, spoken in South Asia and beyondEtiquette 🇱🇰 Colombo, Sri Lanka and 5 moreVesakVisakha Bucha (Thailand), Visakha Bouxa (Laos), Full Moon Day of Kason (Myanmar) A day to honor the birth, awakening, and passing of the Buddha, kept by Buddhists across Asia.Festival 🇮🇩 IndonesiaIsra and Mi'rajالإسراء والمعراج (al-’Isrā’ wal-Miʿrāj) An Islamic observance marking the prophet Muhammad’s night journey and ascent through the heavens.Spiritual 🇲🇽 Mexico City, Mexico and 2 moreOur Lady of GuadalupeNuestra Señora de Guadalupe A Mexican devotion to Mary, with a feast on 12 December and an image kept on a cloakSpiritual 🇮🇳 Kolkata, India and 5 moreNavaratriनवरात्रि (Navarātri) A nine-night Hindu festival honoring the goddess Durga and her nine forms through prayer, fasting, and dance.Festival · Fasting and breaking the fast 🇮🇳 India and 3 moreMaha Shivaratriमहाशिवरात्रि A Hindu night of fasting and vigil dedicated to Shiva, marking his divine union with Parvati.Festival 🇺🇸 New Orleans, United States and 5 moreMardi Gras A festive day of parades and rich foods marking the final celebration before the Christian fasting season of Lent beginsFestival 🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreImbolcLá Fhéile Bríde A Gaelic festival heralding spring and honoring Saint Brigid with woven rush crossesSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals 🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 5 morePresentation of Jesus at the TempleIn praesentatione Domini A February feast of candles and welcome, kept forty days after ChristmasSpiritual 🇮🇳 India and 4 moreRaksha Bandhan A Hindu festival where sisters tie a protective thread on their brothers' wrists to mark their bond.Festival 🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreAdvent calendarAdventskalender A daily countdown to Christmas using doors, images, or small gifts.Festival
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Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly EveryParampara

Every week: one tradition from somewhere new, what is being celebrated around the world this week, and one idea explained.