Traditions of South Asia
Diwali, Holi, Eid and Vesak, saptapadi and mehndi: the densest calendar of living traditions anywhere. 346 traditions on EveryParampara so far.
Countries
🇦🇫 Afghanistan 28🇧🇩 Bangladesh 60🇧🇹 Bhutan 14🇮🇳 India 362🇲🇻 Maldives 4🇳🇵 Nepal 69🇵🇰 Pakistan 68🇱🇰 Sri Lanka 44
Cities and towns
On the calendar
🇱🇰 Sri LankaSanni Yakuma
A Sinhalese rite where masked dancers summon eighteen illness demons and banish themSpiritual
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 moreBaul traditionবাউল
A Bengali devotional minstrel path uniting mystic poetry, music and dancePerformance
🇮🇳 Ahobilam, IndiaNarasimha Jayantiनरसिंहजयंती
A one-day Hindu festival marking Vishnu's man-lion avatar and the rescue of PrahladaSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreBhajanभजनम् (bhajanam)
Devotional songs of South Asia, sung alone or together with drums and cymbalsPerformance
🇮🇳 Puri, IndiaOdissiଓଡ଼ିଶୀ
A classical dance of Odisha, told through bends, gestures and sung poetryPerformance
🇵🇰 PakistanPakistani weddingپاکستانی شادی
Weddings across Pakistan: a match is found, a contract signed, two families joinedRite of passage
🇮🇳 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
🇮🇳 IndiaSattriya
A classical dance from Assam, kept in monasteries and performed on stages worldwidePerformance
🇮🇳 Imphal, India and 1 moreManipuri danceJagoi Raas, Raas Jagoi
A classical dance from Manipur, danced as an offering to Radha and KrishnaPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreKoothu
Tamil street theatre with dance, music and epic stories, staged at temple festivals.Performance
🇮🇳 IndiaMohiniyattam
A gentle solo dance from Kerala, once a temple art and now taught in dance schoolsPerformance
🇮🇳 Varanasi, IndiaHanuman Chalisaहनुमान चालीसा
A forty-stanza Awadhi hymn praising Hanuman, said by Hindus each daySpiritual
🇮🇳 Kuchipudi, IndiaKuchipudi
A classical dance-drama from Andhra Pradesh, with roots in temple and bhakti performance.Performance
🇮🇳 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
🇮🇳 IndiaGuru-shishya traditionपरम्परा
The lineage system passing spiritual and artistic knowledge from master to discipleSpiritual
🇮🇳 Santiniketan, India and 1 moreRabindra Jayanti
An annual Bengali festival celebrating Rabindranath Tagore with music, drama and verseFestival
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaPooram
An annual Kerala temple festival with percussion orchestras, elephants and fireworksFestival
🇮🇳 Imphal, India and 2 moreLai Haraobaꯂꯥꯏ ꯍꯔꯥꯎꯕ
A ritual dance and music festival kept by the Meitei people to please their deities.Festival
🇮🇳 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
🇳🇵 Kathmandu, NepalGunla Bajanगुंला बाजं
Devotional music the Newars carry through the streets during the holy month of GunlaPerformance
🇮🇳 Kozhikode, IndiaRamanattamരാമനാട്ടം
A Kerala dance drama staging the life of Rama across eight daysPerformance
🇮🇳 Mathura, IndiaKrishna legends in Kathak
The enactment of Krishna's sacred stories in Indian classical dancePerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaKalampattu
A Kerala temple offering where a five-colour floor picture is sung over and danced aroundSpiritual
🇮🇳 Palani, India and 1 moreSurasamharamSūrasaṃhāram
A temple performance of Murugan's victory, ending the week-long Kanda Shashti fastSpiritual
🇮🇳 Chennai, IndiaMadras Music Season
Nine weeks of Carnatic concerts in Chennai, from mid-November to JanuaryPerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaKathaकथा (Hindi/Sanskrit), கதை (Tamil)
A traditional Indian practice of religious storytelling and scriptural commentary, kept across Hindu and Sikh communitieSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaHarikathaహరికథ / ಹರಿಕಥೆ / हरिकथा
A South Indian art of telling sacred stories with song, speech and rhythmPerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaBommalattam
A shadow puppetry tradition from Tamil Nadu using carved dolls and oil lamps to tell stories.Performance
🇮🇳 Goa, IndiaVeerabhadra
A ritual dance of a fierce figure performed in Goa during the Shigmo festival and on Chaitra Poornima.Performance
🇮🇳 IndiaMarga Natya
A dance, music and acting tradition rebuilt from Bharata's Natya ShastraPerformance
🇮🇳 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
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Ramanattam: JP Vets, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rabindra Jayanti: Generalstabens litografiska anstalt, Public domain, source
- Pushpanjali: Yosarian, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bommalattam: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, source
- Krishna legends in Kathak: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0, source
- Baul tradition: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, source
- Raslila: https://www.flickr.com/photos/matsukin/, CC BY 2.0, source
- Narasimha Jayanti: anonymous, Public domain, source
- Harikatha: Sanath, CC BY 2.0, source
- Rangoli: SreeramKalyan, CC0, source
- Katha: Tirlochan Singh, Public domain, source
- Guru-shishya tradition: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Sanni Yakuma: Michael Gunther, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gunla Bajan: Kamal Ratna Tuladhar, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kathak: Shinjinikulkarni, CC BY 4.0, source
- Odissi: Melolagnia28192, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pakistani wedding: Rukhsana iqbal, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kathakali: Paul Varuni, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kavadi Aattam: Raja Ravi Varma, Public domain, source
- Yakshagana: Krishnamoorthy Sudhakar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sattriya: User: Sattriyadance, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Koothu: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Mohiniyattam: Shagil Kannur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bhajan: Bootervijay at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hanuman Chalisa: RahulKSaini, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kalampattu: Ranjith A v, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kuchipudi: Augustus Binu / facebook, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Madras Music Season: Martin spaink, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lai Haraoba: Kullachandra Singh, Ngariyambam, CC0, 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