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EveryParampara

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
KindSpiritualFestivalRite of passageTable customSeasonalDressPerformanceEtiquetteCraftGameFolkloreHomeCeremony
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇳 Kolhapur, IndiaKolhapuri chappal Handcrafted braided leather slip-on sandals from western IndiaCraft 🇮🇳 India and 1 morePhulkariਫੁਲਕਾਰੀ Geometric and floral threadwork embroidered by Punjabi women on handwoven cotton.Craft 🇮🇳 Pune, India and 5 moreTurbanدولبند (dolband) Cloth wound around the head, worn for faith, rank, shade and identityDress 🇵🇰 Multan, Pakistan and 3 moreShalwar kameez Loose trousers and a long tunic, worn as one outfit across South AsiaDress 🇮🇳 IndiaGamosaগামুছা A white Assamese cloth with a red border, worn, gifted and laid under sacred textsDress 🇮🇳 Mumbai, India and 1 moreDhoti A long unstitched cloth men wrap like trousers, for worship and formal daysDress 🇮🇳 Ayodhya, IndiaTilakaतिलक A forehead mark worn by Hindus and Jains, at home, at temple and on special daysDress 🇮🇳 India and 4 moreSariसाड़ी An unstitched length of cloth that women drape around the body, worn across South AsiaDress 🇮🇳 India and 2 moreMangalasutraमङ्गलसूत्रम् (maṅgalasūtram) A necklace tied by the groom at a wedding, worn through married lifeDress 🇮🇳 India and 5 moreBindi A dot worn between the eyebrows, red for marriage and devotion, worn daily by many womenDress 🇮🇳 India and 2 moreRudrakshaरुद्राक्ष Seeds of the Elaeocarpus tree, worn as prayer beads by devotees of ShivaSpiritual 🇮🇳 India and 4 moreSindoorसिंदूर A red powder worn in the hair parting by many married Hindu womenDress 🇮🇳 IndiaIndian wedding clothes Traditional attire worn by couples and guests during Indian wedding ceremonies across various regions.Dress 🇮🇳 IndiaMadisarமடிசார் (Tamil) A nine-yard sari drape kept by Tamil Brahmin women for weddings, puja and mourningDress 🇮🇳 Varanasi, India and 3 moreDupattaदुपट्टा A traditional South Asian scarf worn across the shoulders, chest, and headDress 🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 moreDaura-Suruwalदौरा सुरुवाल The traditional Nepali male attire of a wrap shirt, tapered trousers, and a coat.Dress 🇮🇳 Jammu, India and 1 moreChura A set of bridal bangles worn across South Asia at weddings and in early marriageDress

Photo credits on this page

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

The weekly EveryParampara

Every week: one tradition from somewhere new, what is being celebrated around the world this week, and one idea explained.