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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
🇮🇳 Kochi, IndiaVallam Kalivaḷḷaṃ kaḷi A traditional canoe racing festival held across the waters of Kerala during OnamGame 🇮🇳 Kanchipuram, IndiaPanguni UthiramPaṅkuṉi Uttiram A Tamil Hindu festival celebrating divine weddings and the virtues of married lifeSpiritual 🇮🇳 Puri, IndiaNabakalebaraନବ କଳେବର (Navakalevara) A rare ritual in Puri where the wooden idols of four Hindu deities are replaced with new carvings every twelve to nineteSpiritual 🇮🇳 Mumbai, IndiaWeddings in India Weddings across India, each shaped by faith, region and familyRite of passage 🇮🇳 Ahobilam, IndiaNarasimha Jayantiनरसिंहजयंती A one-day Hindu festival marking Vishnu's man-lion avatar and the rescue of PrahladaSpiritual 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and 1 moreHenna ceremonyليلة الحناء A night of henna patterns on a bride's hands and feet, kept before the weddingRite of passage 🇵🇰 Multan, Pakistan and 3 moreShalwar kameez Loose trousers and a long tunic, worn as one outfit across South AsiaDress 🇮🇩 Bali, IndonesiaNgaben A Balinese Hindu cremation rite held to free the soul of the deadRite of passage 🇮🇳 IndiaAhoi Ashtami A day of fasting by Hindu mothers before Diwali, for their children's wellbeingFestival · Fasting and breaking the fast 🇮🇳 Mumbai, India and 1 moreDhoti A long unstitched cloth men wrap like trousers, for worship and formal daysDress 🇲🇾 Kelantan, Malaysia and 2 moreMak yongTarian Mak Yong (Jawi: مق يوڠ) A dance-drama of Kelantan and Patani, told in song, music and improvised speechPerformance 🇨🇳 China and 6 moreRed envelope紅包 / 红包 (hóngbāo) Money in a red packet, given at Lunar New Year, weddings and other big daysEtiquette 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreAncestor veneration Honouring dead relatives with offerings, meals and prayers, kept in cultures worldwideSpiritual 🇨🇳 Hong Kong, China and 5 moreLunar New Year New year festivals dated by the moon, kept from East Asia to the Middle EastFestival 🇮🇩 Yogyakarta, IndonesiaWayangꦮꦪꦁ A night-long puppet theatre from Java, where a dalang tells epics behind a lit screenPerformance 🇮🇳 India and 4 moreSariसाड़ी An unstitched length of cloth that women drape around the body, worn across South AsiaDress 🇨🇳 China and 5 moreAncestor worship Honouring dead relatives with offerings and prayers, kept in many cultures worldwideSpiritual 🇮🇳 Tiruvannamalai, IndiaGirivalam A barefoot walk of about 14 km around Arunachala hill, most of all on full moon nightsSpiritual 🇮🇳 Baripada, IndiaChhau dance A masked dance of eastern India, blending martial steps with epic storiesPerformance 🇹🇭 ThailandWai khruพิธีไหว้ครู A Thai ceremony of thanks to teachers, held in schools and in the artsSpiritual 🇮🇳 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 🇮🇳 Pushkar, IndiaPushkar FairKartik Mela An annual camel and livestock fair with lake pilgrimage rites in Rajasthan, IndiaFestival 🇮🇳 IndiaPushkaram A river worship festival rotating across twelve sacred Indian rivers over twelve yearsSpiritual 🇮🇳 IndiaVat PurnimaVaṭapūrṇimā An annual Hindu festival where married women fast and pray around a banyan treeSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast 🇮🇳 Hyderabad, India and 3 moreBonalu An annual festival of thanksgiving to Goddess Mahakali across Telangana, IndiaFestival · Feasts and festival meals 🇮🇳 Madurai, IndiaMeenakshi TirukalyanamChithirai Thiruvizha A two-week festival in Madurai celebrating the divine wedding of Meenakshi and Shiva.Festival 🇮🇳 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 🇮🇳 IndiaGamosaগামুছা A white Assamese cloth with a red border, worn, gifted and laid under sacred textsDress 🇮🇳 IndiaBharatanatyam A South Indian temple dance of set poses, hand gestures and rhythm, now danced on stagePerformance 🇮🇩 Uluwatu, IndonesiaKecakᬓᬾᬘᬓ᭄ (Balinese), Tari Kecak (Indonesian) A circle of men chanting chak as they dance the Ramayana epic in BaliPerformance 🇮🇳 Ayodhya, IndiaTilakaतिलक A forehead mark worn by Hindus and Jains, at home, at temple and on special daysDress 🇮🇳 Varanasi, India and 5 moreRamlilaरामलीला Open-air community plays staged across autumn nights, recounting the journey of Rama.Performance 🇮🇳 India and 2 moreMangalasutraमङ्गलसूत्रम् (maṅgalasūtram) A necklace tied by the groom at a wedding, worn through married lifeDress 🇵🇭 PhilippinesFilipino wedding customsKasalan A blend of indigenous rituals and Christian traditions marking the union of two families in the Philippines.Rite of passage 🇮🇳 India and 2 moreRudrakshaरुद्राक्ष Seeds of the Elaeocarpus tree, worn as prayer beads by devotees of ShivaSpiritual 🇮🇳 India and 2 moreKoothu Tamil street theatre with dance, music and epic stories, staged at temple festivals.Performance 🇮🇳 Palani, IndiaPanchamritaपञ्चामृत (Sanskrit); பஞ்சாமிர்தம் (Tamil) Five sacred foods mixed and poured over temple images in Hindu and Jain worshipSpiritual · Sweets given and shared 🇮🇳 India and 2 morePujaपूजा (pūjā) Hindu worship: light, flowers and food offered to a deity or a guestSpiritual 🇮🇳 Delhi, IndiaLingamliṅga The pillar-shaped image of Shiva, kept in temples and home shrinesSpiritual 🇮🇳 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 3 moreBhajanभजनम् (bhajanam) Devotional songs of South Asia, sung alone or together with drums and cymbalsPerformance 🇮🇳 IndiaMohiniyattam A gentle solo dance from Kerala, once a temple art and now taught in dance schoolsPerformance 🇮🇳 India and 4 moreSindoorसिंदूर A red powder worn in the hair parting by many married Hindu womenDress 🇮🇳 Imphal, India and 1 moreManipuri danceJagoi Raas, Raas Jagoi A classical dance from Manipur, danced as an offering to Radha and KrishnaPerformance 🇮🇳 IndiaSattriya A classical dance from Assam, kept in monasteries and performed on stages worldwidePerformance
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Photo credits on this page

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

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