Traditions of South Asia
Diwali, Holi, Eid and Vesak, saptapadi and mehndi: the densest calendar of living traditions anywhere. 334 traditions on EveryParampara so far.
Countries
🇦🇫 Afghanistan 28🇧🇩 Bangladesh 59🇧🇹 Bhutan 14🇮🇳 India 353🇲🇻 Maldives 4🇳🇵 Nepal 68🇵🇰 Pakistan 64🇱🇰 Sri Lanka 44
Cities and towns
On the calendar
🇮🇳 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
🇮🇳 Mathura, India and 5 moreHoliहोली (Hindi)
A spring festival of colours and bonfires that marks the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil.Festival
🇧🇩 Bangladesh and 3 moreAs-salamu alaykumسَلَامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ
A traditional Arabic greeting of peace exchanged in daily life and prayerEtiquette
🇳🇵 Nepal and 1 moreTibetan prayer flagLung ta / Darchog
Colorful cloth banners printed with mantras, hung in high places to spread blessings on the wind.Spiritual
🇲🇻 MaldivesBoduberuބޮޑުބެރު
A Maldivian drumming and dance tradition performed by groups of common citizens.Performance
🇮🇳 Amritsar, India and 1 moreGatkaਗੱਤਕਾ (Gurmukhi) / گَتّکا (Shahmukhi)
A Sikh martial art of stick-fighting and sword dance from the Punjab region.Performance
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaKerala mural painting
Frescoes of Hindu deities painted on temple and palace walls in Kerala, India.Performance
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreTribal youth dormitoryMorung
A communal house where a tribe's unmarried young people sleep, learn and serveRite of passage
🇮🇳 IndiaPandavani
A folk singing tradition from central India that retells episodes of the Mahabharata epic through music and theatrical nPerformance
🇮🇳 Nanded, IndiaGurpurabਗੁਰਪੁਰਬ
A Sikh festival marking the birth or martyrdom of a Guru with prayers, processions and community meals.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreGrihapraveshगृहप्रवेश (Gṛhapravēśa)
A Hindu housewarming ritual to purify a new home and invite blessings.Home
🇮🇳 Mumbai, IndiaLalbaugcha Raja
A Mumbai Ganesha festival where millions seek blessings before ocean immersionSpiritual
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 5 moreInternational Mother Language Day
An annual observance on 21 February to protect linguistic diversity and honour the Bengali language movement.Festival
🇮🇳 IndiaSaptapadiसप्तपदी (Sanskrit), सात फेरे (Marathi)
The seven-step ritual that finalizes a Hindu marriage, observed across India.Rite of passage
🇮🇳 IndiaAtithi Devo Bhavaअतिथिदेवो भव
A traditional Indian Hindu philosophy and campaign that treats guests with the reverence due to deities.Etiquette
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreGhazalغَزَل
A short rhyming poem of love and parting, recited and sung from Arabia to South AsiaPerformance
🇮🇳 Kolkata, India and 1 moreSindur Khelaসিঁদুর খেলা
A Bengali Hindu ritual where married women apply vermilion to each other on Vijayadashami.Festival
🇦🇫 Kabul, Afghanistan and 1 moreAttanاتڼ
A Pashtun circle dance of drums and clapping, kept at weddings and gatherings.Performance
🇮🇳 Gwalior, India and 1 moreDhrupadध्रुवपद
The foundational vocal and instrumental classical music tradition of northern IndiaPerformance
🇮🇳 Mumbai, India and 1 moreFire templeآتشکده
A consecrated sanctuary where Zoroastrians tend sacred fires and gather for worshipSpiritual
🇮🇳 Goa, India and 2 moreShehnai
A traditional reed instrument played at weddings and temple festivals across IndiaPerformance
🇳🇵 Kathmandu, NepalKumariकुमारी
A living goddess tradition in Nepal where a young girl embodies the divine feminine.Spiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaIndian national calendar
India's official civil solar calendar, designed to bring unity to timekeepingSeasonal
🇧🇩 Bangladesh and 1 moreAlpanaআলপনা (Alpona)
A Bengali floor painting tradition using rice flour paste to mark festivals and rituals.Performance
🇮🇳 IndiaWarli painting
Sacred white rice paste murals made on red clay walls in western IndiaCraft
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreAkhand Pathਅਖੰਡ ਪਾਠ
The unbroken, continuous reading of the entire Sikh scripture over two daysSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreWater lantern
Small lamps floated on water to honour the dead and ask for good fortuneFestival
🇮🇳 Puri, India and 1 morePattachitra
A cloth scroll painting tradition from eastern India featuring mythological stories and folk tales.Performance
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreKailash Mansarovar Yatraकैलाश मानसरोवर यात्रा (Hindi); ཀཱའི་ལ་ཤ་མན་ས་རོ་ཝར་ཡ་ཏྲ། (Tibetan)
A high-altitude pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in TibetSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaSatsangसत्सङ्ग
Sitting in the company of truth, to hear, sing and meditate in northern IndiaSpiritual
🇵🇰 Karachi, Pakistan and 2 moreSouth Asian truck art
The craft of painting and adorning cargo trucks and buses across India and Pakistan.Craft
🇦🇫 Kabul, Afghanistan and 1 moreJirgaجرګه
A traditional consultative council of elders that settles disputes through consensusCeremony
🇮🇳 Alappuzha, IndiaNehru Trophy Boat Race
An annual longboat race held on Punnamada Lake in Kerala, India.Festival
🇮🇳 IndiaKambala
An annual traditional buffalo race across muddy paddy fields in southwestern IndiaGame
🇮🇳 Kolkata, IndiaJana Gana Mana
India's national anthem, from a Bengali hymn of 1911, sung at civic occasionsCeremony
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaPulikaliപുലിക്കളി
Painted tigers and leopards dance through Thrissur on the fourth day of OnamPerformance
🇱🇰 Kandy, Sri LankaKandyan danceඋඩරට නැටුම්
The sacred dance of Sri Lanka's hill country, kept in temple and on the stagePerformance
🇲🇻 MaldivesRaivaru
Unaccompanied Maldivian singing built on intricate syllable and verse patternsPerformance
🇮🇳 Jammu, IndiaBhangra
A Punjabi harvest dance, first kept by farmers and now performed worldwidePerformance
🇮🇳 Badrinath, IndiaChota Char Dham
Four Himalayan shrines in Uttarakhand, visited in one season each yearSpiritual
🇧🇹 Thimphu, BhutanArchery in Bhutanམདའ (da)
Bhutan's national sport, played with bamboo bows at targets 145 metres awayGame
🇵🇰 Islamabad, Pakistan and 2 moreQawwaliقَوّالی
Devotional Sufi singing from South Asia, led by hereditary parties at shrinesPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDandiya Raas
A stick dance from Gujarat performed in pairs during the festival of NavaratriPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 5 morePretaप्रेत
Offerings and rites for spirits enduring deep hunger across Asian traditions.Spiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaTheyyam
A sacred ritual dance and divine invocation from North Malabar in IndiaSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 1 morePhulkariਫੁਲਕਾਰੀ
Geometric and floral threadwork embroidered by Punjabi women on handwoven cotton.Craft
🇮🇳 Paithan, IndiaPaithani
A handwoven silk sari from Maharashtra, with a squared border and a peacock palluDress
🇮🇳 Kolhapur, IndiaKolhapuri chappal
Handcrafted braided leather slip-on sandals from western IndiaCraft
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bhangra: Jimmysekhon25, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Paithani: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Water lantern: 松岡明芳, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Holi: Jitenderasingh, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ghazal: Poem by Sa'di of Shiraz (13th century). 19th century manuscript, Public domain, source
- Jana Gana Mana: Rabindranath Tagore, Public domain, source
- Pulikali: Felix Francis, CC BY 2.0, source
- Archery in Bhutan: muddum27, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kailash Mansarovar Yatra: micknik, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Qawwali: Saswat swarup mishra, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kandyan dance: PIERRE ANDRE LECLERCQ, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Theyyam: Shagil Kannur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- South Asian truck art: Alexandros.Papadopoulos, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Preta: Temple, Richard Carnac, Sir, Public domain, source
- Kolhapuri chappal: Daderot, CC0, source
- Kambala: Sajith mv parappally, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Phulkari: Sheebamadanloewinger, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dandiya Raas: User:psubhashish, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Fire temple: Uploaded to Flickr by Adam Jones (Copied to Wikimedia by nagualdesign, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Shehnai: TAPAS KUMAR HALDER, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Indian national calendar: Clemensmarabu, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pattachitra: Unknown, Public domain, source
- Akhand Path: William John Howship (1874–1932), Public domain, source
- Warli painting: Omrmankar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lalbaugcha Raja: ninadism, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Pandavani: Suyash Dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jirga: Alpha4354747, Public domain, source
- Sindur Khela: Diganta Talukdar, CC BY 4.0, source
- Alpana: Tripan123, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Saptapadi: Bhumish143, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Grihapravesh: Aruna at ml.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Boduberu: Suvalex, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kumari: Nirmal Dulal, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gurpurab: Gill Gagandeep, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- International Mother Language Day: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gatka: Simon Speed, Public domain, source
- Tribal youth dormitory: Aravind Manickam, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nehru Trophy Boat Race: Varghesepunnamada, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kerala mural painting: Sivavkm, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tibetan prayer flag: Wotan, CC BY 2.5, source
- Diwali: Kalli navya, CC BY-SA 4.0, source