All traditions
2,237 traditions so far, best known first. 12,423 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
🇮🇳 Ayodhya, India and 7 moreDiwaliदीपावली (Dīpāvalī)
A five-day festival of lights celebrated across India and its diaspora to mark the victory of light over darkness.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 Mathura, India and 5 moreHoliहोली (Hindi)
A spring festival of colours and bonfires that marks the end of winter and the triumph of good over evil.Festival
🇧🇩 Bangladesh and 3 moreAs-salamu alaykumسَلَامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ
A traditional Arabic greeting of peace exchanged in daily life and prayerEtiquette
🇮🇳 Guwahati, IndiaBihu dance
A folk dance from Assam that celebrates spring, fertility and the new year with energetic movement and music.Performance
🇳🇵 Kathmandu, NepalKumariकुमारी
A living goddess tradition in Nepal where a young girl embodies the divine feminine.Spiritual
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreTribal youth dormitoryMorung
A communal house where a tribe's unmarried young people sleep, learn and serveRite of passage
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 1 moreNakshi kanthaনকশি কাঁথা
A traditional embroidered quilt from Bengal, made by stitching layers of old cloth into colourful, patterned textiles.Craft
🇮🇳 Alappuzha, IndiaNehru Trophy Boat Race
An annual longboat race held on Punnamada Lake in Kerala, India.Festival
🇮🇳 IndiaPandavani
A folk singing tradition from central India that retells episodes of the Mahabharata epic through music and theatrical nPerformance
🇧🇩 Dhaka, Bangladesh and 5 moreInternational Mother Language Day
An annual observance on 21 February to protect linguistic diversity and honour the Bengali language movement.Festival
🇦🇫 Kabul, Afghanistan and 1 moreAttanاتڼ
A Pashtun circle dance of drums and clapping, kept at weddings and gatherings.Performance
🇮🇳 Mumbai, IndiaLalbaugcha Raja
A Mumbai Ganesha festival where millions seek blessings before ocean immersionSpiritual
🇮🇳 Amritsar, India and 1 moreGatkaਗੱਤਕਾ (Gurmukhi) / گَتّکا (Shahmukhi)
A Sikh martial art of stick-fighting and sword dance from the Punjab region.Performance
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreGrihapraveshगृहप्रवेश (Gṛhapravēśa)
A Hindu housewarming ritual to purify a new home and invite blessings.Home
🇮🇳 IndiaAtithi Devo Bhavaअतिथिदेवो भव
A traditional Indian Hindu philosophy and campaign that treats guests with the reverence due to deities.Etiquette
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreGhazalغَزَل
A short rhyming poem of love and parting, recited and sung from Arabia to South AsiaPerformance
🇮🇳 Kolkata, India and 1 moreSindur Khelaসিঁদুর খেলা
A Bengali Hindu ritual where married women apply vermilion to each other on Vijayadashami.Festival
🇲🇻 MaldivesBoduberuބޮޑުބެރު
A Maldivian drumming and dance tradition performed by groups of common citizens.Performance
🇮🇳 Gwalior, India and 1 moreDhrupadध्रुवपद
The foundational vocal and instrumental classical music tradition of northern IndiaPerformance
🇮🇳 Mumbai, India and 1 moreFire templeآتشکده
A consecrated sanctuary where Zoroastrians tend sacred fires and gather for worshipSpiritual
🇮🇳 Goa, India and 2 moreShehnai
A traditional reed instrument played at weddings and temple festivals across IndiaPerformance
🇮🇳 Nanded, IndiaGurpurabਗੁਰਪੁਰਬ
A Sikh festival marking the birth or martyrdom of a Guru with prayers, processions and community meals.Festival · Feasts and festival meals
🇮🇳 IndiaIndian national calendar
India's official civil solar calendar, designed to bring unity to timekeepingSeasonal
🇮🇳 IndiaSaptapadiसप्तपदी (Sanskrit), सात फेरे (Marathi)
The seven-step ritual that finalizes a Hindu marriage, observed across India.Rite of passage
🇮🇳 IndiaWarli painting
Sacred white rice paste murals made on red clay walls in western IndiaCraft
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreAkhand Pathਅਖੰਡ ਪਾਠ
The unbroken, continuous reading of the entire Sikh scripture over two daysSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 4 moreWater lantern
Small lamps floated on water to honour the dead and ask for good fortuneFestival
🇮🇳 Puri, India and 1 morePattachitra
A cloth scroll painting tradition from eastern India featuring mythological stories and folk tales.Performance
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreKailash Mansarovar Yatraकैलाश मानसरोवर यात्रा (Hindi); ཀཱའི་ལ་ཤ་མན་ས་རོ་ཝར་ཡ་ཏྲ། (Tibetan)
A high-altitude pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in TibetSpiritual
🇮🇳 IndiaSatsangसत्सङ्ग
Sitting in the company of truth, to hear, sing and meditate in northern IndiaSpiritual
🇵🇰 Karachi, Pakistan and 2 moreSouth Asian truck art
The craft of painting and adorning cargo trucks and buses across India and Pakistan.Craft
🇦🇫 Kabul, Afghanistan and 1 moreJirgaجرګه
A traditional consultative council of elders that settles disputes through consensusCeremony
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaKerala mural painting
Frescoes of Hindu deities painted on temple and palace walls in Kerala, India.Performance
🇮🇳 IndiaKambala
An annual traditional buffalo race across muddy paddy fields in southwestern IndiaGame
🇮🇳 Kolkata, IndiaJana Gana Mana
India's national anthem, from a Bengali hymn of 1911, sung at civic occasionsCeremony
🇮🇳 Thrissur, IndiaPulikaliപുലിക്കളി
Painted tigers and leopards dance through Thrissur on the fourth day of OnamPerformance
🇱🇰 Kandy, Sri LankaKandyan danceඋඩරට නැටුම්
The sacred dance of Sri Lanka's hill country, kept in temple and on the stagePerformance
🇲🇻 MaldivesRaivaru
Unaccompanied Maldivian singing built on intricate syllable and verse patternsPerformance
🇮🇳 Jammu, IndiaBhangra
A Punjabi harvest dance, first kept by farmers and now performed worldwidePerformance
🇮🇳 IndiaTheyyam
A sacred ritual dance and divine invocation from North Malabar in IndiaSpiritual
🇧🇹 Thimphu, BhutanArchery in Bhutanམདའ (da)
Bhutan's national sport, played with bamboo bows at targets 145 metres awayGame
🇮🇳 Badrinath, IndiaChota Char Dham
Four Himalayan shrines in Uttarakhand, visited in one season each yearSpiritual
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreDandiya Raas
A stick dance from Gujarat performed in pairs during the festival of NavaratriPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 5 morePretaप्रेत
Offerings and rites for spirits enduring deep hunger across Asian traditions.Spiritual
🇵🇰 Islamabad, Pakistan and 2 moreQawwaliقَوّالی
Devotional Sufi singing from South Asia, led by hereditary parties at shrinesPerformance
🇮🇳 India and 1 morePhulkariਫੁਲਕਾਰੀ
Geometric and floral threadwork embroidered by Punjabi women on handwoven cotton.Craft
🇮🇳 Paithan, IndiaPaithani
A handwoven silk sari from Maharashtra, with a squared border and a peacock palluDress
🇮🇳 Kolhapur, IndiaKolhapuri chappal
Handcrafted braided leather slip-on sandals from western IndiaCraft
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Bhangra: Jimmysekhon25, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Paithani: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Water lantern: 松岡明芳, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Holi: Jitenderasingh, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Ghazal: Poem by Sa'di of Shiraz (13th century). 19th century manuscript, Public domain, source
- Jana Gana Mana: Rabindranath Tagore, Public domain, source
- Pulikali: Felix Francis, CC BY 2.0, source
- Archery in Bhutan: muddum27, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kailash Mansarovar Yatra: micknik, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Qawwali: Saswat swarup mishra, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kandyan dance: PIERRE ANDRE LECLERCQ, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Theyyam: Shagil Kannur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- South Asian truck art: Alexandros.Papadopoulos, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Preta: Temple, Richard Carnac, Sir, Public domain, source
- Kolhapuri chappal: Daderot, CC0, source
- Kambala: Sajith mv parappally, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Phulkari: Sheebamadanloewinger, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dandiya Raas: User:psubhashish, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Fire temple: Uploaded to Flickr by Adam Jones (Copied to Wikimedia by nagualdesign, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Shehnai: TAPAS KUMAR HALDER, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Indian national calendar: Clemensmarabu, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pattachitra: Unknown, Public domain, source
- Akhand Path: William John Howship (1874–1932), Public domain, source
- Warli painting: Omrmankar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lalbaugcha Raja: ninadism, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Pandavani: Suyash Dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jirga: Alpha4354747, Public domain, source
- Sindur Khela: Diganta Talukdar, CC BY 4.0, source
- Saptapadi: Bhumish143, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Grihapravesh: Aruna at ml.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Boduberu: Suvalex, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kumari: Nirmal Dulal, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gurpurab: Gill Gagandeep, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- International Mother Language Day: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gatka: Simon Speed, Public domain, source
- Tribal youth dormitory: Aravind Manickam, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nehru Trophy Boat Race: Varghesepunnamada, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kerala mural painting: Sivavkm, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nakshi kantha: A junaid alam khan ( talk ), Public domain, source
- Bihu dance: Digantatalukdar, CC0, source
- Diwali: Kalli navya, CC BY-SA 4.0, source