Fasting and breaking the fast
Ramadan iftar, Lent, Ekadashi: the rules of the fast and how it ends.
Fasting customs are the rules of what is given up, for how long and how the fast is ended: Ramadan from dawn to dusk, Lent and its Fridays, Ekadashi, Yom Kippur, Buddhist observance days. These pages describe the practice as those who keep it would, and say nothing about health.
Rules of the fast
Each tradition has its own: who is expected to fast and who is excused, what counts as breaking it, when it begins and ends. Children, the sick, travellers and pregnant women are often treated with specific exceptions.
Breaking the fast
The meal that ends a fast usually has its own ritual: a prayer, a first sip or date, a gathering of the family or neighbours, a shared table at the mosque or the temple. It is one of the most social moments of the year in many communities.
About this page
Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Fasting and breaking the fast (meal). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreHalloween
An annual observance on 31 October marking the eve of All Saints' Day, rooted in Christian tradition and Celtic heritageFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇦🇺 Australia and 5 moreGood Friday
A solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇳 Ayodhya, India and 7 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
🇵🇭 Philippines and 5 moreHoly WeekἉγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς
The solemn seven days leading to Easter, recalling the final week and Passion of JesusSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, IsraelYom Kippurיוֹם כִּפּוּר
The holiest day in Judaism, dedicated to fasting, prayer and atonementSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 1 morePurimפּוּרִים
A lively Jewish festival of storytelling, shared food, masks and charityFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇱 Jerusalem, Israel and 5 moreTisha B'Avתשעה באב
A solemn fast day in July or August to mourn the destruction of the Jerusalem Temples and other Jewish tragedies.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇹🇷 TurkeyRamadan in Turkey
A holy month of fasting, prayer, and community meals, observed across Turkey with unique local customs.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇳 Kolkata, India and 5 moreNavaratriनवरात्रि (Navarātri)
A nine-night Hindu festival honoring the goddess Durga and her nine forms through prayer, fasting, and dance.Festival · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇷🇸 SerbiaSlavaСлава
An annual Serbian family feast honouring their patron saint with blessed bread and wineSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Varanasi, India and 1 moreChhath Pujaछठ पूजा
A four-day Hindu festival honouring the sun and Chhathi Maiya along riverbanksSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇩 Bali, IndonesiaNyepiᬜᬾᬧᬶ
A Balinese Hindu day of silence, fasting and stillness marking the Saka new yearSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇹🇭 Thailand and 5 moreMāgha Pūjāមាឃបូជា
A Buddhist holy day honoring monastic unity, moral guidance and spiritual fellowshipSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreSharad Purnima
A Hindu autumn full moon festival of night vigils, moonlit sweets and sacred dancesSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreClean MondayΚαθαρά Δευτέρα
The Monday that opens Great Lent, kept with fasting, forgiveness and kite-flyingSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇳 Jaipur, IndiaGangaurगणगौर
A North Indian spring festival honouring Shiva and Gauri with clay idols and processionsFestival · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇳 Vrindavan, India and 2 moreGovardhan Puja
A Hindu festival of piled vegetarian foods and sculpted earth, honouring KrishnaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 2 moreSigdስግድ
An Ethiopian Jewish holiday of covenant renewal, fasting, and longing for ZionSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇳 IndiaChaturmasyaचातुर्मास्य
A four-month sacred monsoon season of fasting, vows, and monastic retreat in IndiaSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreSohrai
A harvest and cattle observance kept by indigenous communities in eastern IndiaSeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 IndiaParyushana
An annual Jain holy period of intense fasting, reflection, and asking for forgivenessSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇬🇷 GreeceMagiritsaΜαγειρίτσα
A Greek lamb offal soup eaten after the midnight Easter service to break the fastTable custom · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 3 moreHosay
An Indo-Caribbean Muharram commemoration with ornate floats, drumming and processionsSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇶 Karbala, Iraq and 4 moreMuharramٱلْمُحَرَّم
The sacred opening month of the Islamic year, observed through remembrance and fastingSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreLentQuadragesima
Forty days of prayer, fasting and giving that lead Christians towards EasterSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 5 moreAsh WednesdayDies Cinerum
A solemn Christian holy day of prayer, fasting, and the placing of ashesSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland and 2 moreLittle ChristmasNollaig na mBan
A January feast day marking the close of the twelve days of ChristmasSeasonal · Dinner
🇷🇺 Moscow, RussiaChristmas in RussiaРождество Христово
An Orthodox winter feast marked by church vigils, fasting suppers and festive mealsSpiritual · Supper
🇪🇹 Ethiopia and 1 moreFasikaፋሲካ
The celebration of Easter and the end of Lent across Ethiopia and EritreaSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇷🇸 Serbia and 5 moreSerbian ChristmasБожић
A three-day midwinter observance focused on oak logs, floor straw and family gatheringsSpiritual · Dinner
🇱🇰 Sri LankaPoya
A monthly full moon Buddhist holiday of observance and fasting in Sri LankaSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMothering Sunday
A mid-Lent Christian observance and family celebration of mothers and mother churchesSeasonal · Breakfast
🇮🇳 IndiaVat PurnimaVaṭapūrṇimā
An annual Hindu festival where married women fast and pray around a banyan treeSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreGreat LentΜεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή
The forty-day fast before Easter, kept by Eastern Christians as a season of prayerSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇷 Mashhad, Iran and 7 moreIftarإفطار
The sunset meal that breaks the Ramadan fast, eaten with family and communityTable custom · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇵🇱 PolandWigilia
Poland's meatless Christmas Eve supper, begun when the first star appearsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 IndiaAhoi Ashtami
A day of fasting by Hindu mothers before Diwali, for their children's wellbeingFestival · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 5 moreSuhurسحور
The pre-dawn meal Muslims eat before a day of fasting in RamadanTable custom · Breakfast
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreEasterΠάσχα
The day Christians mark the resurrection, kept with vigils, feasts and eggsSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇹 Venice, Italy and 5 moreCarnival
A season of parades, masks and feasting in the days before LentFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreNativity of Mary
A Christian feast day honouring the birth of Mary, the mother of JesusSpiritual · Lunch
🇪🇬 Alexandria, Egypt and 5 moreCenobitic monasticism
A communal way of monastic life where monks live, pray, and follow a shared ruleSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreVigil
A purposeful watch of prayer, mourning, or reflection kept through the nightSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreBeheading of John the Baptist
A Christian holy day of strict fasting that marks the death of John the BaptistSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreTwelve Days of Christmas
A festive Christian liturgical season linking Christmas Day to the eve of EpiphanySeasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇷 Iran and 5 moreMid-Sha'banنصف شعبان
An Islamic night of prayer, forgiveness, ancestral remembrance and sweet offeringsSpiritual · Sweets given and shared
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreRogation days
Springtime Christian days of prayer, fasting, and parish boundary walks.Spiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇱 IsraelFast of the Firstbornתַעֲנִית בְּכוֹרוֹת
A Jewish fast day kept by firstborns on the eve of PassoverSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Jack-o'-lantern: Toby Ord, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Diwali: Kalli navya, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Good Friday: Bellina 09, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Slava: Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mid-Sha'ban: sayyed shahab-o- din vajedi, CC BY 4.0, source
- Chhath Puja: Steffen Gauger, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Holy Week: Anonymous ( Maasland ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Nyepi: Matt Croxson, Public domain, source
- Māgha Pūjā: myself, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Navaratri: Mukerjee, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yom Kippur: Maurycy Gottlieb, Public domain, source
- Sigd: האגודה הישראלית למען יהודי אתיופיה, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Govardhan Puja: Ms Sarah Welch, CC0, source
- Purim: Unknown author, CC BY 2.5, source
- Magiritsa: Andrew Dalby, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hosay: Julius Eduard Muller, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Muharram: Victor Armand Poirson, Public domain, source
- Lent: Manuela Paki-Costa, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sharad Purnima: ShotgunMavericks, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ash Wednesday: Oxh973, Public domain, source
- Gangaur: Avinashmaurya, CC BY 3.0, source
- Christmas in Russia: Gzen92, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Serbian Christmas: Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mothering Sunday: Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Paryushana: Aayush18, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Vat Purnima: Kiran Gopi, CC BY-SA 2.5 in, source
- Clean Monday: Перов, Public domain, source
- Ramadan in Turkey: Wiki leylek, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Great Lent: Stalinsunnykvj, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tisha B'Av: shlomi kakon, CC BY 2.5, source
- Iftar: Shariful Islam (Masum), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Wigilia: Przykuta, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ahoi Ashtami: आशीष भटनागर, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Suhur: Hussein Alazaat, CC BY 2.0, source
- Easter: Piero della Francesca, Public domain, source
- Carnival: Etienne Le Cocq, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Beheading of John the Baptist: Caravaggio, Public domain, source
- Nativity of Mary: Giotto, Public domain, source
- Vigil: unknown master, Public domain, source
- Twelve Days of Christmas: Giotto, Public domain, source
- Rogation days: Ray Trevena, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Fast of the Firstborn: J. M. W. Turner, Public domain, source