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
🇱🇰 Sri LankaKiribathකිරිබත්
Rice cooked in coconut milk, the dish of Sinhalese New Year and family beginningsTable custom · Breakfast
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreMangalasutraमङ्गलसूत्रम् (maṅgalasūtram)
A necklace tied by the groom at a wedding, worn through married lifeDress
🇮🇳 Varanasi, India and 5 moreRamlilaरामलीला
Open-air community plays staged across autumn nights, recounting the journey of Rama.Performance
🇮🇳 Ayodhya, IndiaTilakaतिलक
A forehead mark worn by Hindus and Jains, at home, at temple and on special daysDress
🇮🇳 IndiaBharatanatyam
A South Indian temple dance of set poses, hand gestures and rhythm, now danced on stagePerformance
🇱🇰 Sri LankaSanni Yakuma
A Sinhalese rite where masked dancers summon eighteen illness demons and banish themSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreSariसाड़ी
An unstitched length of cloth that women drape around the body, worn across South AsiaDress
🇮🇳 Tiruvannamalai, IndiaGirivalam
A barefoot walk of about 14 km around Arunachala hill, most of all on full moon nightsSpiritual
🇮🇳 Srinagar, India and 3 morePashmina
Ultra-fine wool of Himalayan goats, hand-woven in Kashmir into shawls of rankDress
🇮🇳 IndiaKoodiyattamകൂടിയാട്ടം
An ancient Sanskrit temple drama and dance tradition from Kerala, IndiaPerformance
🇮🇳 Ahmedabad, India and 1 moreGarbaगर्भ
A Gujarati circle dance performed around a sacred flame during the festival of NavratriPerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaSanjhi
Autumn devotion honoring a mother goddess and sacred floor art of Radha and KrishnaSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreThimithiதீமிதி
A South Indian firewalking festival honouring Draupadi Amman before DeepavaliSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreChapchar KutChapchâr Kût
A spring festival of dance and food kept by the Mizo people in Mizoram, India.Festival
🇮🇳 Sambalpur, IndiaSitalsasthiଶୀତଳ ଷଷ୍ଠୀ
A festival in western Odisha re-enacting the divine wedding of Shiva and ParvatiFestival
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 moreBaul traditionবাউল
A Bengali devotional minstrel path uniting mystic poetry, music and dancePerformance
🇱🇰 Sri LankaPoya
A monthly full moon Buddhist holiday of observance and fasting in Sri LankaSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast
🇮🇳 IndiaSheetala Ashtami
A day for the goddess Shitala, kept eight days after Holi with food cooked in advanceSpiritual
🇮🇳 Pune, India and 5 moreTurbanدولبند (dolband)
Cloth wound around the head, worn for faith, rank, shade and identityDress
🇦🇫 Mazar-i-Sharif, AfghanistanNowruzنوروز
The Afghan spring new year, celebrated with picnics, wheat pudding and dried fruit.Seasonal · Feasts and festival meals
🇵🇰 PakistanChilam Joshi
A spring festival of music, dance, and prayers celebrated by the Kalash peopleFestival
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreFuneral
The ceremony a community holds when someone dies, from burial to cremationRite of passage
🇵🇰 PakistanShandur Polo Festivalشندور چوگان میلہ
A three-day mountain polo competition played with freestyle rules in northern PakistanGame
🇳🇵 Bhaktapur, NepalBiska Jatra𑐧𑐶𑐳𑑂𑐎𑐵𑑅 𑐖𑐵𑐟𑑂𑐬𑐵
An annual solar new year festival in Nepal with chariot pulls and tall wooden poles.Festival
🇱🇰 Mihintale, Sri LankaPoson
A Sri Lankan Buddhist festival marking the ancient arrival of Buddhism on the islandSpiritual
🇮🇳 Mumbai, IndiaDahi Handi
A Hindu festival sport where teams build human towers to break suspended curd potsFestival
🇮🇳 Haridwar, IndiaKumbh MelaKumbha Mēlā
A major Hindu riverside pilgrimage held across four rotating holy cities in IndiaSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreLangarਲੰਗਰ
The free kitchen at a gurdwara, where all sit and eat together as equalsTable custom
🇮🇳 Krishnanagar, IndiaJagaddhatri Puja
A Hindu festival for the world-bearing goddess, kept in West Bengal each autumnSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaZoroastrian wedding
A multi-day Zoroastrian ceremony uniting two people through prayers, rituals and a shared meal.Rite of passage · Dinner
🇮🇳 India and 2 morePehlwani
A traditional discipline of clay-pit wrestling across the Indian subcontinent.Game
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreProstration
Bowing the whole body to the ground, in prayer and as a sign of respectSpiritual
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 moreJamdaniজামদানি
A fine handwoven cotton cloth of Bengal, patterned with motifs worked in by handCraft
🇮🇳 Lucknow, India and 3 moreSherwani
A long buttoned coat for men, worn at weddings and state occasions in South AsiaDress
🇮🇳 IndiaSadyaസദ്യ
A vegetarian feast from Kerala, served on a banana leaf at Onam, Vishu and weddingsTable custom · Lunch
🇮🇳 Madurai, IndiaJallikattuஜல்லிக்கட்டு
A traditional bull-embracing event held during harvest celebrations in Tamil NaduGame
🇧🇹 BhutanKiraདཀྱི་ར་
Bhutan's national dress for women, an ankle-length woven cloth wrapped and pinnedDress
🇦🇫 Kabul, Afghanistan and 1 moreBurqa
A garment covering the body and face, worn by some Muslim womenDress
🇮🇳 IndiaGamosaগামুছা
A white Assamese cloth with a red border, worn, gifted and laid under sacred textsDress
🇮🇳 Baripada, IndiaChhau dance
A masked dance of eastern India, blending martial steps with epic storiesPerformance
🇮🇳 Bhuj, India and 1 moreBandhani
Tie-dye cloth from India, knotted by hand and dipped in dye to leave dot patternsCraft
🇧🇩 BangladeshEid prayersصلاة العيد
The yearly festival prayer of the two Eids, offered in the morning by MuslimsSpiritual
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 5 moreSuhurسحور
The pre-dawn meal Muslims eat before a day of fasting in RamadanTable custom · Breakfast
🇮🇳 Mumbai, IndiaWeddings in India
Weddings across India, each shaped by faith, region and familyRite of passage
🇮🇳 Lucknow, India and 5 moreKurtaکرته (Persian), कुरता (Hindi)
A loose collarless tunic from South Asia, worn plain or embroidered over pyjamas or jeansDress
🇳🇵 NepalMha Pujaम्हपुजा
A Newar New Year ritual of self-worship, mandalas and renewal in NepalSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Ujjain, India and 1 moreVikram Samvatविक्रमसंवत्
A lunisolar Hindu calendar of Nepal and India, its years counted 57 ahead of the GregorianSeasonal
🇱🇰 Sri LankaPoruwa ceremony
A Sinhalese wedding rite held on a decorated wooden platform called a PoruwaRite of passage
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Sadya: Augustus Binu / facebook, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sherwani: SabaFatima123456789, Public domain, source
- Jamdani: Salim_Khandoker, CC0, source
- Prostration: Meghan Breeze, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pehlwani: Prasanna Revan aka. Prasannare at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Antyesti: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Jagaddhatri Puja: শরদিন্দু ভট্টাচার্য্য, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Langar: Harisingh at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kumbh Mela: Yosarian, CC BY 3.0, source
- Dahi Handi: AKS.9955, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Poson: Hafiz Issadeen (YIM Hafiz), Dharga Town, Sri Lanka ( https://www.flick, CC BY 2.0, source
- Biska Jatra: Davide Mauro, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shandur Polo Festival: Addden321, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chilam Joshi: Jugni, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nowruz: Peretz Partensky, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Turban: pxhere, CC0, source
- Baul tradition: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, source
- Chapchar Kut: Ramesh Lalwani, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sanjhi: Veer jindal, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Garba: anurag agnihotri, CC BY 2.0, source
- Koodiyattam: Sreekanthv at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Weddings in India: Psoni2402, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kiribath: AntanO, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sanni Yakuma: Michael Gunther, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sari: Suyash.dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Girivalam: Sakthiprasanna, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chhau dance: Skasish, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Eid prayers: Azimronnie, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Suhur: Hussein Alazaat, CC BY 2.0, source
- Vikram Samvat: Westindischer Maler um 1400, Public domain, source
- Mha Puja: Karrattul, Public domain, source
- Kurta: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Pashmina: Aaditya Kitroo, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bandhani: RubyGoes, CC BY 2.0, source
- Gamosa: Priyankoo at en.wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Burqa: [1], CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Kira: Cfynn, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bharatanatyam: Arian Zwegers, CC BY 2.0, source
- Tilaka: Robert Vane Russell (1873-1915), Public domain, source
- Ramlila: Ankit Gupta, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mangalasutra: Ackroydman, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jallikattu: Mahendrabalan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Poruwa ceremony: A Derivative Work by MediaJet ,, CC BY 2.0, source