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 64🇧🇹 Bhutan 14🇮🇳 India 363🇲🇻 Maldives 4🇳🇵 Nepal 70🇵🇰 Pakistan 69🇱🇰 Sri Lanka 45
Cities and towns
On the calendar
🇮🇳 IndiaKambala
An annual traditional buffalo race across muddy paddy fields in southwestern IndiaGame
🇧🇹 Thimphu, BhutanArchery in Bhutanམདའ (da)
Bhutan's national sport, played with bamboo bows at targets 145 metres awayGame
🇮🇳 Amritsar, India and 1 moreGatkaਗੱਤਕਾ (Gurmukhi) / گَتّکا (Shahmukhi)
A Sikh martial art of stick-fighting and sword dance from the Punjab region.Performance
🇮🇳 Anandpur Sahib, IndiaHola Mohallaਹੋਲਾ-ਮਹੱਲਾ
A three-day Sikh festival of martial arts, poetry, shared meals and grand processionsFestival
🇮🇳 Kochi, IndiaVallam Kalivaḷḷaṃ kaḷi
A traditional canoe racing festival held across the waters of Kerala during OnamGame
🇵🇰 Lahore, Pakistan and 1 moreBasant
A Punjabi spring festival marked by rooftop kite flying, yellow clothing and fairsFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇮🇳 Pushkar, IndiaPushkar FairKartik Mela
An annual camel and livestock fair with lake pilgrimage rites in Rajasthan, IndiaFestival
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreKabaddi
A fast South Asian contact sport where solo raiders tag defenders on a single breathGame
🇮🇳 Madurai, IndiaJallikattuஜல்லிக்கட்டு
A traditional bull-embracing event held during harvest celebrations in Tamil NaduGame
🇮🇳 India and 2 morePehlwani
A traditional discipline of clay-pit wrestling across the Indian subcontinent.Game
🇮🇳 Mumbai, IndiaDahi Handi
A Hindu festival sport where teams build human towers to break suspended curd potsFestival
🇵🇰 PakistanShandur Polo Festivalشندور چوگان میلہ
A three-day mountain polo competition played with freestyle rules in northern PakistanGame
🇧🇹 BhutanNgenpa Gudzomངན་པ་དགུ་འཛོམས
A Bhutanese day of pause and games during an inauspicious astrological periodSeasonal
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Pehlwani: Prasanna Revan aka. Prasannare at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Archery in Bhutan: muddum27, CC BY 2.0, source
- Dahi Handi: AKS.9955, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shandur Polo Festival: Addden321, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kambala: Sajith mv parappally, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Vallam Kali: Arun Sinha, CC BY 2.0, source
- Gatka: Simon Speed, Public domain, source
- Hola Mohalla: Aayush sharma 923, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Basant: Haseeb Ahmad Farooqi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pushkar Fair: sheetal saini, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kabaddi: Amir Hosseini, CC BY 4.0, source
- Jallikattu: Mahendrabalan, CC BY 3.0, source