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.
About this page
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.
RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
🇮🇳 Ayodhya, India and 10 moreDiwaliदीपावली (Dīpāvalī)
A five-day festival of lights celebrated across India and its diaspora to mark the victory of light over darkness.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 moreMani stone
Inscribed stones placed along trails in Tibetan Buddhist regions as devotional offerings.Spiritual
🇧🇹 Thimphu, BhutanArchery in Bhutanམདའ (da)
Bhutan's national sport, played with bamboo bows at targets 145 metres awayGame
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreWater lantern
Small lamps floated on water to honour the dead and ask for good fortuneFestival
🇮🇳 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
🇱🇰 Kandy, Sri LankaKandyan danceඋඩරට නැටුම්
The sacred dance of Sri Lanka's hill country, kept in temple and on the stagePerformance
🇮🇳 India and 5 morePretaप्रेत
Offerings and rites for spirits enduring deep hunger across Asian traditions.Spiritual
🇳🇵 Kathmandu, NepalKumariकुमारी
A living goddess tradition in Nepal where a young girl embodies the divine feminine.Spiritual
🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 moreTibetan prayer flagLung ta / Darchog
Colorful cloth banners printed with mantras, hung in high places to spread blessings on the wind.Spiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaNamasteनमस्ते
A respectful greeting made with joined palms, spoken in South Asia and beyondEtiquette
🇱🇰 Colombo, Sri Lanka and 6 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
🇮🇳 India and 6 moreBuddha's Birthday佛诞
A festival marking the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, observed across Asia with temple rituals and community gatherings.Spiritual
🇮🇳 India and 6 moreMakar Sankrantiमकरसङ्क्रान्ति
The Sun's northward turn, kept on 14 January with kites, fairs and river bathsSpiritual
🇧🇹 Bhutan and 4 moreLosarལོ་གསར་
The Tibetan Buddhist New Year festival of renewal, offerings, and family feastsSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Varanasi, India and 1 moreNaga Panchamiनागपञ्चमी (Nāgapañcamī)
A day of worship for serpent deities and cobras, observed by Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists across South Asia.Spiritual
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreGuru Purnimaगुरुपूर्णिमा
A sacred South Asian festival honouring spiritual guides, teachers, and mentorsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇳🇵 Kathmandu, Nepal and 4 moreDashainबडादशैँ
A fifteen-day festival of family gatherings, blessings, and feasts across NepalFestival
🇳🇵 Nepal and 2 moreTiharतिहार
A five-day Nepalese festival honoring animals, deities, and the bond between siblingsFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇧🇹 Thimphu, BhutanTshechuཚེས་བཅུ།
Annual Bhutanese Buddhist festivals of sacred Cham dances and colossal cloth scrollsFestival
🇮🇳 IndiaChaturmasyaचातुर्मास्य
A four-month sacred monsoon season of fasting, vows, and monastic retreat in IndiaSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇱🇰 Kandy, Sri LankaEsala Perahera
A Sri Lankan procession of sacred relics, drummers and elephants honouring the BuddhaSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreProstration
Bowing the whole body to the ground, in prayer and as a sign of respectSpiritual
🇱🇰 Sri LankaSanni Yakuma
A Sinhalese rite where masked dancers summon eighteen illness demons and banish themSpiritual
🇱🇰 Sri LankaKiribathකිරිබත්
Rice cooked in coconut milk, the dish of Sinhalese New Year and family beginningsTable custom · Breakfast
🇮🇳 Mumbai, IndiaWeddings in India
Weddings across India, each shaped by faith, region and familyRite of passage
🇱🇰 Sri LankaPoya
A monthly full moon Buddhist holiday of observance and fasting in Sri LankaSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreFuneral
The ceremony a community holds when someone dies, from burial to cremationRite of passage
🇱🇰 Mihintale, Sri LankaPoson
A Sri Lankan Buddhist festival marking the ancient arrival of Buddhism on the islandSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 2 morePandal
Temporary decorated pavilions and arches built for festivals and gatheringsFestival
🇱🇰 Anuradhapura, Sri LankaSinhala New Yearඅලුත් අවුරුද්ද
The April solar New Year and harvest festival celebrated across Sri LankaSeasonal
🇮🇳 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
🇱🇰 Sri LankaPoruwa ceremony
A Sinhalese wedding rite held on a decorated wooden platform called a PoruwaRite of passage
🇮🇳 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
🇮🇳 IndiaMonlam Prayer Festival
A Tibetan Buddhist festival of mass prayers, sacred dances and ritual offeringsSpiritual
🇮🇳 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
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreAbhiṣekaabhiṣeka (Sanskrit); wang (Tibetan)
A Vajrayana Buddhist ritual of consecration where a guru transmits spiritual authority to a student.Spiritual
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreKasayaकाषाय
The traditional patchwork robes worn by ordained Buddhist monasticsDress
🇮🇳 Delhi, IndiaSacred groves of India
Communal forest sanctuaries across India where religious belief protects biodiversity and local resources.Spiritual
🇳🇵 Kathmandu, NepalGunla Bajanगुंला बाजं
Devotional music the Newars carry through the streets during the holy month of GunlaPerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaPranamaप्रणाम
A traditional Indian gesture of reverent bowing, prostration, and touching the feetEtiquette
🇧🇹 Bhutan and 5 moreLhabab Duchenལྷ་བབས་དུས་ཆེན་
A Buddhist festival for the day the Buddha returned to earth from a god's realmSpiritual
🇧🇹 Punakha, BhutanTraditional Day of OfferingBuelwa Phuewi Nyim
A Bhutanese New Year marked by offerings to Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and family feasts.Festival · Breakfast
🇮🇳 IndiaAbhiṣekaabhiṣeka (Sanskrit); wang (Tibetan)
A Vajrayāna rite in which a guru empowers a pupil for secret tantric practiceSpiritual
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Water lantern: 松岡明芳, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Prostration: Meghan Breeze, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Losar: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vesak: ผู้สร้างสรรค์ผลงาน/ส่งข้อมูลเก็บในคลังข้อมูลเสรีวิกิมีเดียคอมมอนส์ - เ, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Archery in Bhutan: muddum27, CC BY 2.0, source
- Naga Panchami: No machine-readable author provided. Krish Dulal assumed (based on cop, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Antyesti: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Tshechu: Stephen Shephard, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kailash Mansarovar Yatra: micknik, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Poson: Hafiz Issadeen (YIM Hafiz), Dharga Town, Sri Lanka ( https://www.flick, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kandyan dance: PIERRE ANDRE LECLERCQ, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Preta: Temple, Richard Carnac, Sir, Public domain, source
- Kumari: Nirmal Dulal, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tibetan prayer flag: Wotan, CC BY 2.5, source
- Weddings in India: Psoni2402, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mani stone: John Hill, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kiribath: AntanO, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Guru-shishya tradition: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Sanni Yakuma: Michael Gunther, CC BY-SA 4.0, 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
- Diwali: Kalli navya, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Abhiṣeka: Wonderlane, CC BY 2.0, source
- Monlam Prayer Festival: Evan-Lovely, CC BY 2.0, source
- Esala Perahera: Ashan96, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tihar: Sreekumar K. S., CC BY 2.0, source
- Buddha's Birthday: User: (WT-shared) Manoj nav at wts wikivoyage, Public domain, source
- Dashain: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Guru Purnima: Yercaud-elango, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Namaste: Ms Sarah Welch, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pandal: SHUBHAM KR SONI, CC0, source
- Sinhala New Year: Anna Anichkova, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vikram Samvat: Westindischer Maler um 1400, Public domain, source
- Mha Puja: Karrattul, Public domain, source
- Sacred groves of India: James Forbes, Public domain, source
- Kasaya: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Poruwa ceremony: A Derivative Work by MediaJet ,, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ahimsa: Jain cloud, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Makar Sankranti: Saloni Desai, CC BY-SA 2.0, source