The same idea in 19 places, grouped by region. Each entry is a short portrait; follow the link for the full tradition.
Hindus keep Ekadashi, the eleventh day of each fortnight, and Navratri, with fruit, milk and special flours. Jain fasting during Paryushana can last eight days or more, and the Digambara Jains keep strict rules throughout.
Ekadashi, being writtenBuddhists keep Poya days, the full-moon days, with observance of eight precepts, white clothes and visits to the temple, and the day is a public holiday. The Vesak festival is the most important of them.
Read: PoyaLent ends on Easter Sunday with the salubong at dawn, and on Holy Week many families eat fish and vegetables on Good Friday. Penitents carry crosses in some towns.
Read: Holy Week in the PhilippinesThe world's largest Muslim population marks Ramadan with night markets selling takjil, sweet snacks to break the fast, and with the mudik, the great homecoming journey before Eid. Many people also visit the graves of relatives before Ramadan in a custom known as ziarah kubur.
Read: MudikShojin ryori is the meatless cooking of Buddhist monks, served in temples such as those of Koyasan, and many families keep meatless meals during Obon. It is built on seasonal vegetables, tofu, sesame and seaweed.
Buddhist cuisine, being writtenUzbek Muslims break the Ramadan fast with tea, dried fruit and samsa, and the three days of Ruza Hayit, the end of Ramadan, bring visits, plov and sweets. The fast was kept quietly in the Soviet period, and its open revival is a source of pride.
Read: Eid al-FitrRamadan is a month of fasting from dawn to sunset, broken with dates and water at the iftar, then a meal. Eid al-Fitr ends it with prayers, new clothes, sweets and gifts to children.
Ramadan, being writtenDrummers walk the neighbourhoods before dawn to wake people for the sahur, and the iftar is broken with dates, olives and the flat pide bread of Ramadan. Mosque lights are strung between minarets.
Ramadan, being writtenYom Kippur is a 25-hour fast with no food or water, spent largely in prayer. Fast days such as Tisha B'Av recall losses in Jewish history, and the break-fast meal includes bagels, fish and sweet kugel.
Read: Yom KippurLanterns called fanous hang in the streets in Ramadan, and long tables for the poor, mawa'id al-rahman, are set out for the iftar. A cannon announces sunset, and sweet qatayef pancakes are a specialty.
Read: FanousHarira soup, dates and chebakia, honeyed sesame pastries, are the iftar standards, and in the month the mosque is full for the taraweeh prayers each night. Families often share the first dates with neighbours, and a bowl of soup is sent next door.
Harira, being writtenOrthodox Christians keep the Great Lent for 55 days and fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, eating vegan food such as shiro, lentils and injera. The feast of Fasika, Easter, breaks the fast with meat and doro wat.
Read: FasikaMuslim communities in the north break the Ramadan fast with pap, dates, and fura da nono, a millet and milk drink, while Christian communities in the south observe Lent and Easter with church services and large gatherings. In the evenings, communities gather for the breaking of the fast, and richer families feed their neighbours.
Fura, being writtenOrthodox Lent is observed with lagana bread, olives, taramosalata and beans. The Easter midnight liturgy ends with a candle, a red egg and a soup called magiritsa.
Read: MagiritsaOrthodox fasting, with no meat or dairy, is followed in Lent and Advent, and Maslenitsa, a week of blini, precedes Lent as a farewell to winter and to eating dairy. Pancakes, round like the sun, are eaten with butter, sour cream and caviar until Forgiveness Sunday, when people ask each other's pardon.
Read: MaslenitsaLent is marked by the avoidance of meat on Fridays, with dishes such as capirotada, a sweet bread pudding, and tortitas de camaron. Carnival and Fat Tuesday come right before it.
Capirotada, being writtenMardi Gras in New Orleans is the great feast before Lent, with king cake, parades and Cajun food. Many American Christians give up a favourite food for Lent, and Muslim communities hold open iftars.
Mardi Gras in New Orleans, being writtenRastafari follow the Ital diet, which is plant-based and unsalted, as an expression of faith, and Easter is marked with bun and cheese, a spiced sweet bread eaten with processed cheese. Many Jamaicans also keep Good Friday as a day of quiet, with fish and bammy in place of meat.
Read: ItalHindu Fijians keep fasts such as Ram Naumi and Diwali, and Fijian Muslims keep Ramadan, while Christian Fijians observe Lent. The meal after the fast is a communal one at the temple or home.
Indo-Fijians, being writtenWritten by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
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