Buddhist traditions
Buddhist traditions are found across Asia and increasingly worldwide, in the forms of Theravada in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, Mahayana in East Asia and Vajrayana in Tibet and Mongolia.
Buddhist traditions are found across Asia and increasingly worldwide, in the forms of Theravada in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, Mahayana in East Asia and Vajrayana in Tibet and Mongolia. They include the festival of Vesak, the Poya days, almsgiving to monks, the Kathina robe offering, the pilgrimage to Lumbini and Bodh Gaya, temple festivals and the rites of the Tibetan year. At their heart are meditation, compassion and the Buddha's teaching, and many customs are acts of generosity. These pages describe them with respect.
Monks, merit and giving
Laypeople support monks and nuns with food, robes and shelter, and in return receive teaching and blessings. Giving, dana, earns merit, and many festivals centre on it: the morning alms round in Laos and Thailand, the Kathina ceremony at the end of the rains retreat, the free meals of Vesak in Sri Lanka. Temples are also community centres, schools and places for funerals.
Festivals and the year
Vesak marks the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha with lanterns and lights. In Thailand, Songkran and Loi Krathong, in Japan Obon, in Tibet Losar and Saga Dawa, and in Korea the Lotus Lantern Festival are among the major events. Each blends Buddhist meaning with local custom, and many include the remembrance of ancestors and a cleansing of the old year.
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Buddhist (faith). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇹🇭 Bangkok, ThailandSongkranสงกรานต์
The three-day Thai New Year festival marked by water rituals and blessings for eldersFestival
🇱🇦 Laos and 3 moreRocket Festivalບຸນບັ້ງໄຟ
A rainy-season festival of merit-making, music, parades and homemade rocketsFestival
🇹🇭 Thailand and 3 moreVassa
A three-month rainy-season retreat of meditation, study, and discipline for BuddhistsSpiritual
🇹🇭 Thailand and 5 moreAsalha Pujaอาสาฬหบูชา
A Theravada festival marking the Buddha's first sermon and the monastic orderSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreBindi
A dot worn between the eyebrows, red for marriage and devotion, worn daily by many womenDress
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreBhajanभजनम् (bhajanam)
Devotional songs of South Asia, sung alone or together with drums and cymbalsPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreRudrakshaरुद्राक्ष
Seeds of the Elaeocarpus tree, worn as prayer beads by devotees of ShivaSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaAhimsaअहिंसा
A daily Indian discipline of doing no harm, in deed, word and thoughtSpiritual
🇺🇸 Spokane, United States and 5 moreFather's Day
A day to honour fathers and fatherhood, kept on many different dates worldwideFestival
🇰🇪 Kenya and 5 moreBurial
Placing the dead in the ground or a structure to honor them and guide their journey.Rite of passage
🇪🇬 Alexandria, Egypt and 5 moreCenobitic monasticism
A communal way of monastic life where monks live, pray, and follow a shared ruleSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇨🇳 ChinaKowtow叩頭
A traditional Chinese prostration of deep respect by kneeling and bowing to the groundEtiquette
🇮🇳 IndiaMonlam Prayer Festival
A Tibetan Buddhist festival of mass prayers, sacred dances and ritual offeringsSpiritual
🇹🇭 Bangkok, ThailandSongkranสงกรานต์
The Thai solar New Year marked by temple rites, elder blessings and water throwingSeasonal
🇮🇳 IndiaGuru-shishya traditionपरम्परा
The lineage system passing spiritual and artistic knowledge from master to discipleSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreRemoval of footwear indoors
The widespread custom of leaving outdoor shoes at the door for cleanliness and respectEtiquette
🇦🇱 Gjirokastër, Albania and 5 moreDodola and Perperuna
A rainmaking ritual kept across Southeast Europe, where children dressed in greenery lead processions to call for summerSpiritual
🇹🇭 Dan Sai, ThailandPhi Ta Khonผีตาโขน
A three-day festival in Dan Sai, north-east Thailand, of ghost masks and merit-makingFestival
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreAbhiṣekaabhiṣeka (Sanskrit); wang (Tibetan)
A Vajrayana Buddhist ritual of consecration where a guru transmits spiritual authority to a student.Spiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaPranamaप्रणाम
A traditional Indian gesture of reverent bowing, prostration, and touching the feetEtiquette
🇨🇳 Xi'an, ChinaXi'an guyue西安鼓乐
Ritual wind and percussion music from Xi'an, played sitting or walkingPerformance
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreLife release放生
A Buddhist practice of freeing captive animals to spare their lives and gain meritSpiritual
🇳🇵 Kathmandu, NepalGunla Bajanगुंला बाजं
Devotional music the Newars carry through the streets during the holy month of GunlaPerformance
🇨🇳 Dunhuang, China and 2 moreYingluo璎珞
A ring-shaped Buddhist neck ornament that became a Chinese necklace, worn again todayDress
🇧🇹 Bhutan and 5 moreLhabab Duchenལྷ་བབས་དུས་ཆེན་
A Buddhist festival for the day the Buddha returned to earth from a god's realmSpiritual
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreFive Grains五穀
A sacred grouping of staple crops honoured as the bedrock of East Asian civilizationFolklore
🇮🇳 IndiaAbhiṣekaabhiṣeka (Sanskrit); wang (Tibetan)
A Vajrayāna rite in which a guru empowers a pupil for secret tantric practiceSpiritual
🇮🇳 Mumbai, IndiaWeddings in India
Marriage rites and festive gatherings celebrated across the diverse communities of India.Rite of passage
🇲🇲 Bagan, MyanmarAtar-ohအတာအိုး
A terracotta vessel prepared for the Myanmar New Year to welcome celestial blessings and purify the home.Festival
🇱🇦 Vientiane, LaosBoun Suang Hueaບຸນຊ່ວງເຮືອ
A Lao festival of riverboat races and floating offerings at the close of Buddhist LentFestival
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreTaiyin Xingjun太陰星君
The Chinese moon goddess, honoured at Mid-Autumn with incense, mooncakes and prayersSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇳 Delhi, IndiaSacred groves of India
Communal forest sanctuaries across India where religious belief protects biodiversity and local resources.Spiritual
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreKasayaकाषाय
The traditional patchwork robes worn by ordained Buddhist monasticsDress
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreBuddhist initiation受戒
A public ceremony where a lay follower takes refuge in the Triple Gem and accepts moral precepts.Spiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Five Grains: Kurt Stüber [1], CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Asalha Puja: Chainwit., CC BY 4.0, source
- Vassa: Chainwit., CC BY 4.0, source
- Rocket Festival: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Songkran: ผู้สร้างสรรค์ผลงาน/ส่งข้อมูลเก็บในคลังข้อมูลเสรีวิกิมีเดียคอมมอนส์ - เ, CC BY 3.0, source
- Guru-shishya tradition: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Xi'an guyue: Liuxingy, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Life release: Wonderlane, CC BY 2.0, source
- Rudraksha: Merasmita, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gunla Bajan: Kamal Ratna Tuladhar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bindi: Vinay Sahay, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Removal of footwear indoors: Sarang, Public domain, source
- Bhajan: Bootervijay at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Yingluo: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Phi Ta Khon: E.D.W., Public domain, source
- Father's Day: Jjsarto, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Burial: Rama , commissioned by Wikimédia France, CC BY-SA 2.0 fr, source
- Abhiṣeka: Wonderlane, CC BY 2.0, source
- Songkran: Khunmoohan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Weddings in India: Jaisingh Rathore, CC BY 2.5, source
- Monlam Prayer Festival: Evan-Lovely, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kowtow: Gary Todd, CC0, source
- Atar-oh: Maung Sun, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Boun Suang Huea: ClaireM1FLERéunion, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Taiyin Xingjun: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Sacred groves of India: James Forbes, Public domain, source
- Kasaya: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Buddhist initiation: ScooterSponson, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ahimsa: Jain cloud, CC BY-SA 4.0, source