Home›Observances›All ObservancesBrowse ByAll ObservancesCalendar observances that are neither a feast's celebration nor a fast's abstention in the strict sense, commemorations, remembrance days and comparable dates that a tradition marks without either feasting or fasting as the defining act. This is the broadest and least defined of the holiday subcategories, the one a date lands in when it does not fit the more specific types nearby.FactsLearn MoreAll ObservancesSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedDays a tradition marks without ranking them as feasts or festivals - commemorations of a teacher or a martyr, preparatory and penitential seasons, monthly and fortnightly observances, days of remembrance for the dead. The grouping is residual: it collects what the calendar sets apart but does not celebrate. 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedHolidays & Festivals 1Learn MoreThe Observances This group holds observances, the appointed days and periods a tradition sets aside for religious attention, whether in commemoration, devotion or discipline, spanning the range of solemn and reflective occasions of the sacred year. The browser will find the observances the atlas gathers from across the traditions. The entries describe each observance's occasion and customs, noting the tradition and the time in the calendar it marks.All ObservancesFilter Results70 entriesTraditionAllAfrican Methodist Episcopal Church (4)African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (4)Alevism (1)Anglican Communion (3)Anglicanism (3)Armenian Apostolic Church (1)Assyrian Church of the East (1)Calvinism (Reformed) (2)Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (4)Church of Cyprus (5)Church of England (3)Church of Greece (5)Church of Ireland (3)Church of Scotland (1)Church of Sweden (3)Church of the Nazarene (1)Coptic Orthodoxy (2)Digambara (1)Disciples of Christ (1)Dutch Reformed Church (1)Eastern Orthodoxy (6)Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (5)Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church (2)Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (2)Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (3)Evangelicalism (1)Free Methodist Church (1)Georgian Orthodox Church (5)Global Methodist Church (4)Greek Orthodox Church (5)Khalsa (3)Lutheranism (4)Mahayana (1)Maronite Church (2)Methodism (4)Moravian Church (4)National Baptist Convention of America (1)Nirmala (1)Old Believers (5)Oriental Orthodoxy (3)Presbyterianism (2)Progressive National Baptist Convention (1)Protestantism (2)Roman Catholicism (6)Romanian Orthodox Church (5)Russian Orthodox Church (5)Serbian Orthodox Church (5)Shaivism (1)Shia (Twelver) (1)Svetambara (1)The Episcopal Church (3)The United Methodist Church (4)Theravada (4)Udasi (1)Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (5)Ukrainian Orthodox Church (5)Vajrayana (1)Wesleyan Church (1)Zen (1)Calendar SystemAllAztec solar year (xiuhpohualli) (1)Badi (Bahai) (2)Bikrami / Vikrami (Punjabi lunisolar) (2)Buddhist lunisolar (South and Southeast Asian) (4)Chinese lunisolar (1)Gregorian (civil solar) (15)Hebrew (lunisolar) (3)Hindu lunisolar (panchanga) (14)Hindu solar (sidereal, sankranti-based) (1)Islamic Hijri (lunar) (7)Julian (Old Calendar) (4)Nanakshahi (Sikh tropical solar, 2003) (2)No calendar: set directly by the sky (2)Slavic and Baltic folk calendar (1)Date TypeAllComputed from another feast (8)Fixed date in its own calendar (41)Fixed weekday of a month or season (3)Set by an astronomical event or computus (5)Set by observation or authority within a window (4)Observance TypeAllAlmsgiving / offering (4)Atonement / repentance (2)Commemoration of a person or event (17)Fast / abstinence (9)Feast / celebration (8)Kinship or family bond (4)Martyrdom remembered (4)Memorial of the dead (8)Nativity / birth remembered (3)New year (3)Ordinary season, no distinct festal or penitential character (1)Penitential season (6)Pilgrimage (1)Procession (3)Seasonal turning point (3)Veneration of a deity or holy figure (6)Vigil / night observance (7)MonthAllJuly (3)June (1)November (1)October (2)September (1)Origin EraAll300 BCE (3)1 (2)380 (3)610 (1)632 (1)638 (1)680 (1)700 (1)835 (1)843 (1)1000 (1)1469 (1)1517 (1)1606 (1)1666 (1)1705 (1)1740 (1)1850 (1)1851 (1)Place of OriginAllBrazil (1)China (1)Greece (1)India (14)Indonesia (1)Israel (3)Japan (1)Mexico (1)Nepal (1)Russia (2)Saudi Arabia (1)United States (2)Vietnam (2)UNESCO StatusAllInscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (1)Status TodayAllLiving tradition, practised today (55)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 70AdventObservancesAkshaya TritiyaObservancesAll Hallows' EveObservancesAllan Kardec DayObservancesAsalha PujaObservancesAshuraObservancesBodhi DayObservancesBright WeekObservancesChaitra ParvaObservancesChaturmasyaObservancesChristmastideObservancesDarwin DayObservancesDas Lakshana ParvaObservancesDay of ArafahObservancesDay of the CovenantObservancesDziadyObservancesEastertideObservancesEsbatObservancesFet GedeObservancesFlower CommunionObservancesForgiveness SundayObservancesFoundress' FestivalObservancesGroundation DayObservancesGuru Gobind Singh GurpurabObservancesGuru Nanak GurpurabObservancesGuru PurnimaObservancesHiganObservancesHoi Yen Dieu Tri Cung (Feast of the Holy Mother)ObservancesHoly WeekObservancesIslamic New YearObservancesIsra and Mi'rajObservancesKarva ChauthObservancesKathinaObservancesKukur TiharObservancesLaylat al-Bara'ahObservancesLaylat al-QadrObservancesLiang Phi BanObservancesMagha PujaObservancesMaghiObservancesMaha ShivaratriObservancesMartyrdom of Guru ArjanObservancesMartyrdom of the BabObservancesMawlidObservancesNaga PanchamiObservancesNational Day of ReasonObservancesNemontemiObservancesNyepiObservancesOrdinary TimeObservancesPalm SundayObservancesParinirvana DayObservancesParyushanaObservancesPhu Day FestivalObservancesPitru PakshaObservancesPrometheiaObservancesQingmingObservancesRadonitsaObservancesRaksha BandhanObservancesReformation DayObservancesRosh ChodeshObservancesSunday of OrthodoxyObservancesTsukinamisaiObservancesTu B'AvObservancesTu BiShvatObservancesUnjami FestivalObservancesUposathaObservancesVaikuntha EkadashiObservancesVat PurnimaObservancesWatch NightObservancesWorld Humanist DayObservancesYsyakh (Yhyakh)ObservancesSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Encyclopedia of Religiontier 1Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005View the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.