Traditions of Southeast Asia
Songkran, Tet, Nyepi and Pchum Ben, rice rituals and temple offerings. 144 traditions on EveryParampara so far.
🇱🇦 Luang Prabang, Laos and 5 moreLao New Yearປີໃໝ່ລາວ
A mid-April water festival and Buddhist celebration marking the Lao new yearFestival
🇵🇭 Cebu City, Philippines and 4 moreSinulog Festival
An annual Philippine dance festival and Catholic devotion honouring the Santo NiñoFestival
🇸🇬 Singapore, SingaporeNational DayHari Kebangsaan Singapura
Singapore's annual civic holiday celebrating its national sovereignty on 9 AugustCeremony
🇰🇭 Siem Reap, CambodiaCambodian New Yearបុណ្យចូលឆ្នាំថ្មី ប្រពៃណីជាតិ
A three-day harvest festival marking the traditional solar new year across CambodiaSeasonal
🇲🇾 Penampang, MalaysiaKaamatanTadau Kaamatan
An annual May harvest celebration of thanksgiving and community across Sabah, MalaysiaSeasonal
🇰🇭 Phnom Penh, Cambodia and 1 moreBon Om Toukបុណ្យអុំទូក
A three-day Cambodian festival of dragon boat races, floating lanterns and moon offeringsFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 4 moreLebaranHari Raya Lebaran
Indonesia's festive season of homecoming, seeking forgiveness and shared feastsFestival · Breakfast
🇮🇩 IndonesiaGalungan
A Balinese Hindu festival welcoming ancestral spirits and honouring good over evilSpiritual
🇵🇭 Kalibo, PhilippinesAti-Atihan
A week of drumbeats, street dancing, and devotion to the Infant Jesus in AklanFestival
🇵🇭 Baguio, PhilippinesPanagbenga Festival
A month-long flower festival and parade in the mountain city of BaguioFestival
🇮🇩 IndonesiaSlametan
A short communal meal on Java where neighbours share food, prayer and a wish for peaceSpiritual · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇩 Yogyakarta, IndonesiaSekatenꦱꦼꦏꦠꦺꦤ꧀
A week-long Javanese royal festival and market honouring the birth of the ProphetFestival
🇲🇾 Malaysia and 1 moreGawai DayakAri Gawai
An annual harvest and thanksgiving festival of the Dayak peoples in BorneoSeasonal
🇮🇩 IndonesiaBau Nyale
An annual night-time gathering on Lombok to collect spawning sea worms from the shoreFestival
🇲🇲 Myanmar and 1 moreLongyiလုံချည်
A tube of cloth worn from waist to feet in Myanmar, folded shut with no knotDress
🇸🇬 Singapore and 2 moreChingay Parade妝藝
A lively street procession of floats, giant flags, and performing arts in Southeast AsiaFestival
🇰🇭 CambodiaPchum Benភ្ជុំបិណ្ឌ
A fifteen-day Cambodian Buddhist festival honouring ancestors with food and prayersSpiritual
🇻🇳 Hội An, VietnamTết Trung Thu節中秋
A mid-autumn festival of lanterns, mooncakes and folklore celebrated across VietnamFestival · Sweets given and shared
🇵🇭 Manila, PhilippinesFlores de Mayo
A month-long Philippine festival of daily Marian prayers, flower offerings and pageantsFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs
🇻🇳 Saigon, Vietnam and 5 moreBánh mì
A Vietnamese baguette sandwich filled with meats, pickles, herbs, and condiments.Table custom · Breakfast
🇹🇭 Bangkok, ThailandThai funeral
Buddhist rites in Thailand featuring water blessings, temple chanting and cremation.Rite of passage · Breakfast
🇻🇳 VietnamTếtTết Nguyên Đán
The Vietnamese festival of the lunar new year, welcoming spring with family gatheringsFestival · Feasts and festival meals
🇵🇭 Iloilo City, PhilippinesDinagyang FestivalDinágyang
An annual festival of drumming, street dance and devotion to the Santo Niño in Iloilo.Festival
🇹🇭 Chiang Mai, Thailand and 1 moreYi Pengยี่เป็ง
A northern Thai Buddhist festival of sky lanterns, clay lamps and temple sermonsSpiritual
🇹🇭 Thailand and 5 moreAsalha Pujaอาสาฬหบูชา
A Theravada festival marking the Buddha's first sermon and the monastic orderSpiritual
🇹🇭 Thailand and 2 moreVassa
A three-month rainy-season retreat of meditation, study, and discipline for BuddhistsSpiritual
🇵🇭 Manila, PhilippinesHoly Week in the PhilippinesMahal na Araw
An eight-day observance of the Passion, death, and resurrection of Christ in the Philippines.Spiritual
🇱🇦 Laos and 3 moreRocket Festivalບຸນບັ້ງໄຟ
A rainy-season festival of merit-making, music, parades and homemade rocketsFestival
🇹🇭 Bangkok, ThailandSongkranสงกรานต์
The three-day Thai New Year festival marked by water rituals and blessings for eldersFestival
🇵🇭 Bacolod, PhilippinesMassKara FestivalPista sang MassKara
A street festival of smiling masks, parades and music in Bacolod, PhilippinesFestival
🇵🇭 Philippines and 5 moreMaundy ThursdayDies Cenae Domini
A Christian feast marking the start of Easter observances with foot washing and communion services.Spiritual
🇲🇲 Yangon, Myanmar and 1 moreShinbyuရှင်ပြု
A Burmese Buddhist rite in which a boy goes forth as a novice monk, often at New YearRite of passage
🇵🇭 Philippines and 3 moreManoPagmamano
A Filipino greeting where a younger person bows and asks an elder for a blessingEtiquette
🇮🇩 Yogyakarta, Indonesia and 4 moreKebayaꦏꦼꦧꦪ
A front-opening blouse and wrapped cloth, worn by women across Southeast AsiaDress
🇻🇳 Hanoi, Vietnam and 5 morePhophở
A Vietnamese noodle soup of broth and rice noodles, served hot with beef or chicken.Table custom · Breakfast
🇻🇳 Huế, VietnamTraditional Vietnamese wedding
A Vietnamese wedding: two families joined through proposal, engagement and ceremonyRite of passage
🇮🇩 Bali, IndonesiaNgaben
A Balinese Hindu cremation rite held to free the soul of the deadRite of passage
🇮🇩 Uluwatu, IndonesiaKecakᬓᬾᬘᬓ᭄ (Balinese), Tari Kecak (Indonesian)
A circle of men chanting chak as they dance the Ramayana epic in BaliPerformance
🇵🇭 PhilippinesFilipino wedding customsKasalan
A blend of indigenous rituals and Christian traditions marking the union of two families in the Philippines.Rite of passage
🇰🇭 Cambodia and 2 moreSampotសំពត់
A length of cloth wrapped at the waist, the everyday and ceremonial dress of CambodiaDress
🇲🇾 Kelantan, Malaysia and 2 moreMak yongTarian Mak Yong (Jawi: مق يوڠ)
A dance-drama of Kelantan and Patani, told in song, music and improvised speechPerformance
🇮🇩 Jakarta, Indonesia and 3 moreRijsttafel
Many small dishes around rice: a colonial-era banquet still served in the NetherlandsTable custom · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇩 Yogyakarta, IndonesiaWayangꦮꦪꦁ
A night-long puppet theatre from Java, where a dalang tells epics behind a lit screenPerformance
🇻🇳 Huế, VietnamNhã nhạcNhã nhạc (雅樂)
Vietnam's royal court music, played for palace rites from the Trần dynasty onwardPerformance
🇻🇳 VietnamCa trùCa trù (歌籌)
A Vietnamese art of sung poetry, led by a woman singer with lute and praise drumPerformance
🇲🇾 Malacca, Malaysia and 5 moreBaju Melayuباجو ملايو
The long-sleeved Malay man's shirt and trousers, formal national dress in Malaysia and BruneiDress
🇵🇭 San Fernando, Philippines and 3 moreParolparól
A Filipino star lantern of bamboo and paper, hung at Christmas from September to JanuaryFestival
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 5 moreBatikꦧꦛꦶꦏ꧀ (bathik)
A Javanese wax-resist way of patterning cloth, and the textiles made that wayCraft
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bon Om Touk: Codas, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lao New Year: Darren On The Road, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sinulog Festival: Herbert Kikoy, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- National Day: Brian Jeffery Beggerly, CC BY 2.0, source
- Cambodian New Year: Sam Sith, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kaamatan: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lebaran: Nurudin Jauhari, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Galungan: Davidelit, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ati-Atihan: Bernardo "Berniemack" Arellano III, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Panagbenga Festival: lolay, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sekaten: Kembangraps, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gawai Dayak: Zahirulnukman, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chingay Parade: HundenvonPenang, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bau Nyale: Focusfeel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pchum Ben: Saphabodi, CC0, source
- Tết Trung Thu: The imperial government of the Nguyễn Dynasty, French Indo-China., Public domain, source
- Flores de Mayo: Markytour777, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Thai funeral: Government of Thailand, CC BY 2.0, source
- Bánh mì: Andrea Nguyen, CC BY 2.0, source
- Tết: vi:Lưu Ly, Public domain, source
- Dinagyang Festival: Bernardo 'Berniemack' Arellano III, CC BY 3.0, source
- Yi Peng: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Asalha Puja: Chainwit., CC BY 4.0, source
- Vassa: Chainwit., CC BY 4.0, source
- Holy Week in the Philippines: LMP 2001, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Rocket Festival: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Songkran: ผู้สร้างสรรค์ผลงาน/ส่งข้อมูลเก็บในคลังข้อมูลเสรีวิกิมีเดียคอมมอนส์ - เ, CC BY 3.0, source
- MassKara Festival: Ceslou, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Maundy Thursday: Benedetto Caliari, Public domain, source
- Shinbyu: Lionslayer, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Slametan: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mano: TOTO LOZANO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO, Public domain, source
- Kebaya: Simon_sees, CC BY 2.0, source
- Pho: Phương Huy, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Traditional Vietnamese wedding: Gabrielle M. Vassal, Public domain, source
- Ngaben: by kibitan, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kecak: Rollan Budi, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Filipino wedding customs: John Ryan Cordova, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Longyi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Sampot: George Groslier (1887–1945), Public domain, source
- Rijsttafel: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wayang: Kevin Gessner, CC BY 2.0, source
- Nhã nhạc: Lưu Ly ( thảo luận ), Public domain, source
- Ca trù: Michael Coghlan, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Baju Melayu: CuLeX-, CC BY 2.0, source
- Parol: Ervin Malicdem, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Batik: Fpangestuphotographer, CC BY-SA 4.0, source