Lesson Six: Nepal , the Bible and us (2010)
Lesson development in detail
Competence area: Nepal, the Bible and us lesson 6
Lesson: Nepal's festivals
Objectives: After this lesson, the children know more about what people in Nepal
celebrate during their main festivals.
Time: Lesson can be as long as you like
Content:
Read or tell about Judges 17 and 18
• Stress the point that there have been people worshipping other gods beside our God
and that they usually use idols for it. Of course God does strongly condemn this,
however he is concerned about all people. The goal for this lesson today is understand
a little bit more about the thinking and beliefs of the people of Nepal. Many of them live
in fear. They are afraid that their gods will harm them if they don't worship them.
• Tell about the major festivals 'Dashain', 'Tihar/Diwali' and 'Holi' (Don't be shocked if you
see parallels with Christmas and Easter in it. Many of the symbols we use during that
time are not based on the bible but on idol worshipping like the Christmas tree,
candles, painted eggs etc. ) See additional information for explanation.
• The Christians in Nepal are not celebrating these festivals and are very strongly
against taking a 'tika' This is one of the red dots on your forehead that you get after you
get a blessing from the temple.
• Make a colourful painting or drawing worshipping the one and only God. Use it in your
exhibition during Christmas on what you have been learning about.
• Continue your fund raising activities.
Ideas of how to present this lesson.
• Group discussion
• Use a book or power point with some pictures of the festivals
• Have a craft time with worship music playing in the background as an inspiration
• Action according to previous plans
Ideas of practical assignments that can go with the content of this lesson
“homework”, things they can do independently on their own or in a group to apply what they
have learned in the classroom
• Depends on what your group action plan is
1
Lesson Six: Nepal , the Bible and us (2010)
Additional information that might be helpful for the teacher
(please adjust for the children you work with)
Dashain:
During Dashain the people celebrate good overcoming bad. Durga (the female god of power)
kills the bad gods. Many ducks, chickens, goats, buffaloes and pigs are slaughtered and eaten
after they have been offered at the temple. People visit many temples. A lot of tasty foods are
eaten during this time. New clothes are bought. Also a blessing in the form of a tika (red dot on
the forehead) is received from the elders. Children fly homemade kites from their flatroofed
houses and large swings made from bamboo poles are erected on open spaces in villages
and towns.
See: http://www.nepalhomepage.com/society/festivals/dashain.html
Tihar/Diwali:
Tihar lasts for 5 days and different animals are worshipped during the first 3 days. The crow,
the dog and cow have special foods given to them on their days and dos and cows can be
seen with red dots on their heads and garlands of flowers around their necks. On the 4th day of
the festival, which is called the festival of lights, the whole house is decorated with candles or
oil lamps to invite Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, to enter the house. The candles are burning
the whole night. Sisters give a tika (red dot on the forehead) to their brothers and thus a
blessing. They also give them food and wish them well. The brothers in turn give new clothes
to their sisters.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali and
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/religion/hinduism/diwali.shtml
http://www.nepalvista.com/travel/tihar.html
Holi:
The festival of colours. This festival is celebrated at the end of winter with the purpose of
washing away bad things and celebrating new hope and new life in spring. People throw water
at each other to celebrate. Usually the water is coloured and thus people look quite colourful at
this day with all kinds of dye all over their bodies. The children love this festival, if you want to
keep your clothes clean and nice this is the day to stay inside. See
also:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi
Remarks Find a few books on Hinduism in your local library so your children can get
informed. Have appropriate craft materials ready and a cd player and worship music to play
during craft time
2
Lesson Six: Nepal , the Bible and us (2010)
Street dog being worshipped at Dashain
To attract the gods to their house
3