All traditions
2,291 traditions so far, best known first. 12,311 more are on the list to be written. Filter by region, kind and meal.
RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
🇱🇰 Sri LankaSanni Yakuma
A Sinhalese rite where masked dancers summon eighteen illness demons and banish themSpiritual
🇮🇳 Baripada, IndiaChhau dance
A masked dance of eastern India, blending martial steps with epic storiesPerformance
🇵🇰 PakistanShandur Polo Festivalشندور چوگان میلہ
A three-day mountain polo competition played with freestyle rules in northern PakistanGame
🇮🇳 IndiaSattriya
A classical dance from Assam, kept in monasteries and performed on stages worldwidePerformance
🇮🇳 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
🇮🇳 Puri, IndiaOdissiଓଡ଼ିଶୀ
A classical dance of Odisha, told through bends, gestures and sung poetryPerformance
🇮🇳 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
🇮🇳 Imphal, India and 1 moreManipuri danceJagoi Raas, Raas Jagoi
A classical dance from Manipur, danced as an offering to Radha and KrishnaPerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaMohiniyattam
A gentle solo dance from Kerala, once a temple art and now taught in dance schoolsPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreBhajanभजनम् (bhajanam)
Devotional songs of South Asia, sung alone or together with drums and cymbalsPerformance
🇮🇳 Kuchipudi, IndiaKuchipudi
A classical dance-drama from Andhra Pradesh, with roots in temple and bhakti performance.Performance
🇵🇰 PakistanPakistani weddingپاکستانی شادی
Weddings across Pakistan: a match is found, a contract signed, two families joinedRite of passage
🇮🇳 Varanasi, IndiaHanuman Chalisaहनुमान चालीसा
A forty-stanza Awadhi hymn praising Hanuman, said by Hindus each daySpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreKoothu
Tamil street theatre with dance, music and epic stories, staged at temple festivals.Performance
🇮🇳 IndiaGuru-shishya traditionपरम्परा
The lineage system passing spiritual and artistic knowledge from master to discipleSpiritual
🇮🇳 Imphal, India and 2 moreLai Haraobaꯂꯥꯏ ꯍꯔꯥꯎꯕ
A ritual dance and music festival kept by the Meitei people to please their deities.Festival
🇮🇳 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
🇮🇳 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
🇮🇳 Goa, IndiaVeerabhadra
A ritual dance of a fierce figure performed in Goa during the Shigmo festival and on Chaitra Poornima.Performance
🇮🇳 IndiaKalampattu
A Kerala temple offering where a five-colour floor picture is sung over and danced aroundSpiritual
🇮🇳 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
🇮🇳 Kozhikode, IndiaRamanattamരാമനാട്ടം
A Kerala dance drama staging the life of Rama across eight daysPerformance
🇮🇳 Palani, India and 1 moreSurasamharamSūrasaṃhāram
A temple performance of Murugan's victory, ending the week-long Kanda Shashti fastSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaBommalattam
A shadow puppetry tradition from Tamil Nadu using carved dolls and oil lamps to tell stories.Performance
🇮🇳 Chennai, IndiaMadras Music Season
Nine weeks of Carnatic concerts in Chennai, from mid-November to JanuaryPerformance
🇮🇳 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
🇮🇳 Mathura, IndiaKrishna legends in Kathak
The enactment of Krishna's sacred stories in Indian classical dancePerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaMarga Natya
A dance, music and acting tradition rebuilt from Bharata's Natya ShastraPerformance
🇳🇵 Kathmandu, NepalGunla Bajanगुंला बाजं
Devotional music the Newars carry through the streets during the holy month of GunlaPerformance
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
- Pushpanjali: Yosarian, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shandur Polo Festival: Addden321, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Krishna legends in Kathak: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0, source
- Raslila: https://www.flickr.com/photos/matsukin/, CC BY 2.0, source
- Guru-shishya tradition: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Rangoli: SreeramKalyan, CC0, source
- Katha: Tirlochan Singh, Public domain, source
- Sanni Yakuma: Michael Gunther, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chhau dance: Skasish, 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
- Kathakali: Paul Varuni, CC BY 2.0, source
- Yakshagana: Krishnamoorthy Sudhakar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kavadi Aattam: Raja Ravi Varma, Public domain, source
- Sattriya: User: Sattriyadance, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mohiniyattam: Shagil Kannur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bhajan: Bootervijay at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, 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
- Rabindra Jayanti: Generalstabens litografiska anstalt, Public domain, source
- Harikatha: Sanath, CC BY 2.0, source
- Bommalattam: Sailko, CC BY 3.0, source
- Pakistani wedding: Rukhsana iqbal, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hanuman Chalisa: RahulKSaini, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Koothu: Unknown author, CC0, source