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.

🇮🇳 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

🇨🇳 Xi'an, ChinaChinese tea culture中国茶文化 (Zhōngguó chá wénhuà) A centuries-old practice of cultivating, brewing, and sharing tea as a social and spiritual ritual in China.Table custom · Tea, coffee and drinking ceremonies

🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanKaiseki懐石 A multi-course Japanese dining tradition shaped by tea ceremonies and the seasonsTable custom · Dinner

🇨🇳 China and 5 moreDouble Ninth Festival重陽節 An autumn festival of mountain walks, chrysanthemum wine and ancestor remembranceSeasonal · Tea-time and snacking customs

🇯🇵 Tokyo, JapanHatsumōde初詣 The first shrine or temple visit of the Japanese New Year to pray for good fortuneSpiritual

🇲🇳 Mongolia and 2 moreTsagaan SarЦагаан сар The Mongolian Lunar New Year festival of peace, elders, white foods and renewalSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals

🇯🇵 JapanHadaka Matsuri裸祭り Japanese festivals where participants clad in loincloths seek luck and purificationSpiritual

🇹🇭 Thailand and 5 moreMāgha Pūjāមាឃបូជា A Buddhist holy day honoring monastic unity, moral guidance and spiritual fellowshipSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast

🇲🇲 Yangon, MyanmarThingyanသင်္ကြန် A four-day water festival marking the Myanmar New Year, celebrated in April with merit-making and playful splashing.Festival

🇰🇷 Seoul, South KoreaYeondeunghoe연등회 A Korean lantern festival celebrating the Buddha's birthday with glowing lotus lightsSpiritual

🇹🇭 Thailand and 5 moreKathina A Buddhist season of offering new robes and gifts to monks after the rains retreatSpiritual

🇳🇵 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

🇰🇭 Cambodia and 4 moreRoyal Ploughing Ceremonyព្រះរាជពិធីបុណ្យច្រត់ព្រះនង្គ័ល A royal agricultural rite opening the rice season across mainland Southeast AsiaCeremony

🇯🇵 Osaka, JapanTsukimi月見 (Tsukimi) / お月見 (Otsukimi) A Japanese autumn festival honoring the harvest moon with seasonal foods and pampas grass decorations.Festival · Dinner

🇱🇦 Luang Prabang, Laos and 5 moreLao New Yearປີໃໝ່ລາວ A mid-April water festival and Buddhist celebration marking the Lao new yearFestival

🇧🇹 Thimphu, BhutanTshechuཚེས་བཅུ། Annual Bhutanese Buddhist festivals of sacred Cham dances and colossal cloth scrollsFestival

🇰🇭 Siem Reap, CambodiaCambodian New Yearបុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី ប្រពៃណីជាតិ A three-day harvest festival marking the traditional solar new year across CambodiaSeasonal 🇨🇳 Beijing, ChinaLaba Festival臘八節 A winter porridge festival marking the start of the Chinese New Year seasonFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇰🇭 Phnom Penh, Cambodia and 1 moreBon Om Toukបុណ្យអុំទូក A three-day Cambodian festival of dragon boat races, floating lanterns and moon offeringsFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs 🇮🇳 IndiaChaturmasyaचातुर्मास्य A four-month sacred monsoon season of fasting, vows, and monastic retreat in IndiaSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast

🇰🇷 South KoreaNorigae노리개 A Korean pendant of knots and tassels, worn with hanbok and kept for luckDress

🇨🇳 Lhasa, China and 2 moreSho Dun Festivalཞོ་སྟོན། (Tibetan), 雪頓節 (Chinese) A summer festival in Lhasa where a monks' retreat ends with yogurt and all-day operaFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇱🇰 Kandy, Sri LankaEsala Perahera A Sri Lankan procession of sacred relics, drummers and elephants honouring the BuddhaSpiritual

🇰🇭 CambodiaPchum Benភ្ជុំបិណ្ឌ A fifteen-day Cambodian Buddhist festival honouring ancestors with food and prayersSpiritual

🇮🇳 Ujjain, India and 1 moreVikram Samvatविक्रमसंवत् A lunisolar Hindu calendar of Nepal and India, its years counted 57 ahead of the GregorianSeasonal

🇯🇵 JapanShikoku Pilgrimage四国遍路 A long circuit of 88 temples on Japan's Shikoku island, kept by pilgrims called henroSpiritual

🇮🇳 India and 4 moreProstration Bowing the whole body to the ground, in prayer and as a sign of respectSpiritual

🇸🇬 Singapore and 2 moreChingay Parade妝藝 A lively street procession of floats, giant flags, and performing arts in Southeast AsiaFestival

🇳🇵 NepalMha Pujaम्हपुजा A Newar New Year ritual of self-worship, mandalas and renewal in NepalSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals

🇱🇰 Mihintale, Sri LankaPoson A Sri Lankan Buddhist festival marking the ancient arrival of Buddhism on the islandSpiritual

🇨🇳 ChinaChinese funeral rituals Traditional rites of mourning, vigils, offerings, and ancestor veneration across ChinaRite of passage

🇯🇵 Japan and 3 moreBodhi Day成道会 A Buddhist observance marking the enlightenment of Gautama Buddha under the Bodhi TreeSpiritual

🇱🇰 Anuradhapura, Sri LankaSinhala New Yearඅලුත් අවුරුද්ද The April solar New Year and harvest festival celebrated across Sri LankaSeasonal

🇮🇳 India and 2 moreFuneral The ceremony a community holds when someone dies, from burial to cremationRite of passage

🇹🇭 Bangkok, ThailandThai funeral Buddhist rites in Thailand featuring water blessings, temple chanting and cremation.Rite of passage · Breakfast

🇻🇳 VietnamTếtTết Nguyên Đán The Vietnamese festival of the lunar new year, welcoming spring with family gatheringsFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreKorean New Year설날 A three-day Korean festival celebrating the lunisolar new year with family and feastsSeasonal

🇨🇳 Dali, ChinaThird Month Fair三月街 A mountain-foot bazaar, festival, and sports gathering among the Bai in YunnanFestival

🇯🇵 Kyoto, JapanGion Matsuri祇園祭 A month-long Kyoto festival of grand floats, evening markets and purifying ritualsFestival

🇹🇭 Chiang Mai, Thailand and 1 moreYi Pengยี่เป็ง A northern Thai Buddhist festival of sky lanterns, clay lamps and temple sermonsSpiritual

🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreChuseok추석 A Korean harvest festival of ancestral rites, seasonal rice cakes, and folk gamesFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇹🇭 Thailand and 5 moreAsalha Pujaอาสาฬหบูชา A Theravada festival marking the Buddha's first sermon and the monastic orderSpiritual

🇹🇭 Thailand and 2 moreVassa A three-month rainy-season retreat of meditation, study, and discipline for BuddhistsSpiritual

🇯🇵 Tokushima, JapanAwa Dance Festival阿波踊り A summer street dance festival held in Tokushima during the Buddhist season of ObonFestival

🇱🇦 Laos and 3 moreRocket Festivalບຸນບັ້ງໄຟ A rainy-season festival of merit-making, music, parades and homemade rocketsFestival

🇹🇭 Bangkok, ThailandSongkranสงกรานต์ The three-day Thai New Year festival marked by water rituals and blessings for eldersFestival

Photo credits on this page

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

Hatsumōde: KKPCW, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Bon Om Touk: Codas, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Vikram Samvat: Westindischer Maler um 1400, Public domain, source
Shikoku Pilgrimage: Dokudami, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Esala Perahera: Ashan96, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Prostration: Meghan Breeze, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Double Ninth Festival: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tsagaan Sar: User:Chinneeb, CC BY-SA 3.0, 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
Kathina: Thai Government, CC BY 2.0, source
Māgha Pūjā: myself, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Yeondeunghoe: Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Jeon Han), CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Thingyan: Pagan era painter(s), Public domain, source
Chinese tea culture: Gary Stevens, CC BY 2.0, source
Dashain: Unknown author, CC0, source
Royal Ploughing Ceremony: Xiengyod, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Tshechu: Stephen Shephard, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Lao New Year: Darren On The Road, CC BY 2.0, source
Guru Purnima: Yercaud-elango, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tihar: Sreekumar K. S., CC BY 2.0, source
Cambodian New Year: Sam Sith, CC BY 2.0, source
Kaiseki: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Chingay Parade: HundenvonPenang, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Pchum Ben: Saphabodi, CC0, source
Mha Puja: Karrattul, Public domain, source
Hadaka Matsuri: CES, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Poson: Hafiz Issadeen (YIM Hafiz), Dharga Town, Sri Lanka ( https://www.flick, CC BY 2.0, source
Chinese funeral rituals: Salzmann, E.v., CC BY-SA 3.0 de, source
Bodhi Day: Shirazibustan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tsukimi: katorisi, CC BY 3.0, source
Sinhala New Year: Anna Anichkova, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Thai funeral: Government of Thailand, CC BY 2.0, source
Tết: vi:Lưu Ly, Public domain, source
Korean New Year: Kang Byeong Kee, CC BY 3.0, source
Third Month Fair: ZhaoScorpio, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Gion Matsuri: 江戸村のとくぞう, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Yi Peng: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Chuseok: by Joseph Steinberg (Baltimoron in Korea) at Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Asalha Puja: Chainwit., CC BY 4.0, source
Vassa: Chainwit., CC BY 4.0, source
Awa Dance Festival: Rosino, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Rocket Festival: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Songkran: ผู้สร้างสรรค์ผลงาน/ส่งข้อมูลเก็บในคลังข้อมูลเสรีวิกิมีเดียคอมมอนส์ - เ, CC BY 3.0, source
Norigae: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Sho Dun Festival: No machine-readable author provided. John Hill assumed (based on copyr, CC BY 2.5, source