(i) The presence of the local regional cults and religious affiliations is one of the characteristics of regionalism. For instance, the cult of Jagannath in Orissa was regional to Orissa. It became the cult of the state, whereby the rulers adopted it, built a huge temple for it and celebrated festivals around it every year.

(ii) Jagannath was a tribal god, whose popularity made the rulers adopt this as the state cult.

(iii) A large number of sects and the bhakti religion developed in the regions. For example, Namdev, Raidas, Tukaram, Guru Nanak were located in the regional states.

(iv) Religions also have their own myths, legends and interpretations and religious practices. In north India, Kartikeya, the son of Shiva and Parvati, is a bachelor and in the Tamil region he has two wives, Devyani and Valli.

(v) Each region had different gods and goddesses, different temple and mosque architectures. Despite these regional differences, where each tradition was specific to a region, there were similarities in the regional traditions too.

(vi) The saints and priests migrated from one region to another. For instance, Gesu Daraz, (1321-1422), the Sufi saint, belonged to the Chisti Silsilah that was established in Delhi. He migrated from Delhi to Daultabad in the Deccan region as a child in 1328. Seven years later, in 1335 AD, he came back to Delhi and stayed there for sixty three years. Towards the end of fourteenth century, in 1398, when Timur, a Turkish invader from Central Asia attacked Delhi, Gesu Daraz, migrated back to Deccan.