Hindu traditions
Hindu traditions fill the calendar of South Asia and the many places where Hindus have settled, from Bali and Mauritius to Fiji, Trinidad and Britain.
Hindu traditions fill the calendar of South Asia and the many places where Hindus have settled, from Bali and Mauritius to Fiji, Trinidad and Britain. They include daily puja, the festivals of Diwali, Holi, Navratri and Pongal, pilgrimages to the Ganges and Tirupati, the sixteen samskaras that mark life from birth to death and a great many regional and village customs. Hinduism has no single founder or text, and practice varies by family, region and community. These pages describe the traditions as those who keep them do.
Home and temple
Worship begins at home, with a shrine, a lamp and a morning prayer, and continues at the temple, where a priest offers the deity water, flowers, food and light on behalf of devotees. Visitors take darshan, receive prasad and walk around the shrine. Festivals bring the whole street into the temple or the pandal, with processions, music and communal meals, and the cycle of the year is marked by fasts and feasts.
Rites of life
The samskaras include the naming, the first rice, the sacred thread, marriage and the funeral. The wedding, with its seven steps round the fire, is the best known, while funerals involve cremation and offerings to the ancestors. Every region adds its own customs, such as the kolam in Tamil Nadu, the rakhi in the north and the Durga Puja of Bengal. The diversity is part of the tradition.
About this page
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Hindu (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
🇮🇳 Puri, India and 1 morePattachitra
A cloth scroll painting tradition from eastern India featuring mythological stories and folk tales.Performance
🇮🇳 Gwalior, India and 1 moreDhrupadध्रुवपद
The foundational vocal and instrumental classical music tradition of northern IndiaPerformance
🇧🇩 Bangladesh and 1 moreAlpanaআলপনা (Alpona)
A Bengali floor painting tradition using rice flour paste to mark festivals and rituals.Performance
🇮🇳 Kolkata, IndiaJana Gana Mana
India's national anthem, from a Bengali hymn of 1911, sung at civic occasionsCeremony
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaThrissur Pooramതൃശ്ശൂര് പൂരം
A grand Kerala temple gathering with elephant pageantry, percussion, and fireworksFestival
🇮🇳 Vrindavan, IndiaRaslilaरासलीला (Rāsalīlā)
A traditional Indian dance and folk theatre performance depicting the divine love of Krishna and the gopis.Performance
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaKerala mural painting
Frescoes of Hindu deities painted on temple and palace walls in Kerala, India.Performance
🇮🇳 IndiaSatsangसत्सङ्ग
Sitting in the company of truth, to hear, sing and meditate in northern IndiaSpiritual
🇱🇰 Kandy, Sri LankaKandyan danceඋඩරට නැටුම්
The sacred dance of Sri Lanka's hill country, kept in temple and on the stagePerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaTheyyam
A sacred ritual dance and divine invocation from North Malabar in IndiaSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaPandavani
A folk singing tradition from central India that retells episodes of the Mahabharata epic through music and theatrical nPerformance
🇵🇰 Karachi, Pakistan and 2 moreSouth Asian truck art
The craft of painting and adorning cargo trucks and buses across India and Pakistan.Craft
🇮🇳 Mysuru, India and 2 moreVijayadashamiविजयदशमी (Vijayadaśamī)
A Hindu festival marking the end of Navaratri, celebrating the victory of good over evil across India and Nepal.Festival
🇮🇳 Kochi, India and 5 moreOnamഓണം
A ten-day harvest festival in Kerala celebrating the return of King Mahabali with feasts, flower carpets and boat races.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Guwahati, IndiaBihuবিহু (Assamese)
Three annual festivals in Assam marking the new year, crop cycles and harvest with dance, music and feasts.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Kolkata, IndiaDurga Puja in Kolkataকলকাতার দুর্গাপূজা
The grand annual autumn festival honouring the mother goddess Durga across KolkataSpiritual
🇱🇰 Kandy, Sri LankaEsala Perahera
A Sri Lankan procession of sacred relics, drummers and elephants honouring the BuddhaSpiritual
🇮🇳 Chidambaram, India and 1 moreThiruvathira
A Hindu festival celebrating Shiva's cosmic dance, observed in Tamil Nadu and Kerala with fasting, processions, and dancFestival
🇮🇳 IndiaBharatanatyam
A South Indian temple dance of set poses, hand gestures and rhythm, now danced on stagePerformance
🇮🇳 Varanasi, India and 5 moreRamlilaरामलीला
Open-air community plays staged across autumn nights, recounting the journey of Rama.Performance
🇮🇳 Ahobilam, IndiaNarasimha Jayantiनरसिंहजयंती
A one-day Hindu festival marking Vishnu's man-lion avatar and the rescue of PrahladaSpiritual
🇮🇳 Sambalpur, IndiaSitalsasthiଶୀତଳ ଷଷ୍ଠୀ
A festival in western Odisha re-enacting the divine wedding of Shiva and ParvatiFestival
🇮🇳 Baripada, IndiaChhau dance
A masked dance of eastern India, blending martial steps with epic storiesPerformance
🇮🇳 Ahmedabad, India and 1 moreGarbaगर्भ
A Gujarati circle dance performed around a sacred flame during the festival of NavratriPerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaKoodiyattamകൂടിയാട്ടം
An ancient Sanskrit temple drama and dance tradition from Kerala, IndiaPerformance
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 moreBaul traditionবাউল
A Bengali devotional minstrel path uniting mystic poetry, music and dancePerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaSattriya
A classical dance from Assam, kept in monasteries and performed on stages worldwidePerformance
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreRangoliरंगोली
Floor patterns of rice flour, sand or petals, drawn at the doorstep for festivalsCraft
🇮🇳 Lucknow, India and 1 moreKathak
A north Indian classical dance of stories, footwork and spins, from temples and courtsPerformance
🇮🇳 Puri, IndiaOdissiଓଡ଼ିଶୀ
A classical dance of Odisha, told through bends, gestures and sung poetryPerformance
🇮🇳 Trivandrum, IndiaKathakaliകഥകളി
A classical dance-drama from Kerala featuring elaborate makeup and costumes to tell epic stories.Performance
🇮🇳 Udupi, IndiaYakshaganaಯಕ್ಷಗಾನ (Kannada)
A night-long dance-drama from coastal Karnataka, with sung dialogue and drummingPerformance
🇮🇳 Imphal, India and 1 moreManipuri danceJagoi Raas, Raas Jagoi
A classical dance from Manipur, danced as an offering to Radha and KrishnaPerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaMohiniyattam
A gentle solo dance from Kerala, once a temple art and now taught in dance schoolsPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreBhajanभजनम् (bhajanam)
Devotional songs of South Asia, sung alone or together with drums and cymbalsPerformance
🇮🇳 Kuchipudi, IndiaKuchipudi
A classical dance-drama from Andhra Pradesh, with roots in temple and bhakti performance.Performance
🇮🇳 Varanasi, IndiaHanuman Chalisaहनुमान चालीसा
A forty-stanza Awadhi hymn praising Hanuman, said by Hindus each daySpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreKoothu
Tamil street theatre with dance, music and epic stories, staged at temple festivals.Performance
🇮🇳 IndiaGuru-shishya traditionपरम्परा
The lineage system passing spiritual and artistic knowledge from master to discipleSpiritual
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaPooram
An annual Kerala temple festival with percussion orchestras, elephants and fireworksFestival
🇮🇳 IndiaPushpanjaliपुष्पाञ्जलि
A Hindu ritual of offering flowers with cupped hands, used in worship and as an opening dance.Spiritual
🇳🇵 NepalJatjatin Dance
A Mithila folk dance performed by couples to seek rain and express the sorrow of parting.Performance
🇮🇳 IndiaKathaकथा (Hindi/Sanskrit), கதை (Tamil)
A traditional Indian practice of religious storytelling and scriptural commentary, kept across Hindu and Sikh communitieSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 1 morePunjabi wedding traditions
The multi-day marriage customs and rituals of Hindu and Sikh Punjabi familiesRite of passage · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇳 Mathura, IndiaKrishna legends in Kathak
The enactment of Krishna's sacred stories in Indian classical dancePerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaHarikathaహరికథ / ಹರಿಕಥೆ / हरिकथा
A South Indian art of telling sacred stories with song, speech and rhythmPerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaMarga Natya
A dance, music and acting tradition rebuilt from Bharata's Natya ShastraPerformance
🇮🇳 Goa, IndiaVeerabhadra
A ritual dance of a fierce figure performed in Goa during the Shigmo festival and on Chaitra Poornima.Performance
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Pushpanjali: Yosarian, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Onam: Jiteshgt, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jana Gana Mana: Rabindranath Tagore, Public domain, source
- Bihu: Diganta Talukdar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Durga Puja in Kolkata: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, source
- Kandyan dance: PIERRE ANDRE LECLERCQ, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Theyyam: Shagil Kannur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Krishna legends in Kathak: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0, source
- South Asian truck art: Alexandros.Papadopoulos, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Baul tradition: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, source
- Thiruvathira: Kalakki at Malayalam Wikipedia, CC BY 2.5, source
- Garba: anurag agnihotri, CC BY 2.0, source
- Koodiyattam: Sreekanthv at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pattachitra: Unknown, Public domain, source
- Pandavani: Suyash Dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kerala mural painting: Sivavkm, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Raslila: https://www.flickr.com/photos/matsukin/, CC BY 2.0, source
- Thrissur Pooram: Rameshng, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Narasimha Jayanti: anonymous, Public domain, source
- Guru-shishya tradition: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Rangoli: SreeramKalyan, CC0, source
- Katha: Tirlochan Singh, Public domain, source
- Chhau dance: Skasish, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kathak: Shinjinikulkarni, CC BY 4.0, source
- Odissi: Melolagnia28192, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kathakali: Paul Varuni, CC BY 2.0, source
- Yakshagana: Krishnamoorthy Sudhakar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sattriya: User: Sattriyadance, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mohiniyattam: Shagil Kannur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bhajan: Bootervijay at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kuchipudi: Augustus Binu / facebook, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pooram: Augustus Binu : flickr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jatjatin Dance: Ramesh Lalwani, CC BY 2.0, source
- Punjabi wedding traditions: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Marga Natya: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Alpana: Tripan123, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Esala Perahera: Ashan96, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bharatanatyam: Arian Zwegers, CC BY 2.0, source
- Harikatha: Sanath, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ramlila: Ankit Gupta, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hanuman Chalisa: RahulKSaini, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Koothu: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Vijayadashami: DiplomatTesterMan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source