6. Dashain Festival - Nepal's Biggest Celebration

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Understand the significance of Dashain
• Learn about the festival's main traditions
• Know how families celebrate Dashain
• Understand the festival calendar

60 minutes

• Paper
• Colored pencils
• Notebooks
• Regular pencils

1. Review (5 minutes)

• Quick recap of numbers learned last week
• Connect festivals to communities discussed earlier
• Brief counting practice in Nepali

2. Introduction to Dashain (15 minutes)

Explain and draw key elements:

• Longest festival in Nepal (15 days)
• Celebration of good over evil
• Important days:
• Ghatasthapana (First day)
• Fulpati (Seventh day)
• Maha Astami (Eighth day)
• Maha Nawami (Ninth day)
• Vijaya Dashami (Tenth day)

3. Dashain Traditions (15 minutes)

Discuss and illustrate:

• Tika (red rice paste blessing)
• Jamara (yellow grass seedlings)
• Flying kites
• Swinging on traditional bamboo swings
• Family gatherings
• New clothes
• Special foods

4. Drawing Activity (15 minutes)

Students draw:

• Dashain tika
• Jamara growing in a pot
• Kites in the sky
• Family celebration scene

5. Closing Activity (10 minutes)

• Students write three things they learned about Dashain
• Share what they like most about the festival
• Compare with festivals they celebrate
• Preview of next week's topic

• Dashain (दशैं)
• Tika (टीका)
• Jamara (जमरा)
• Blessing (आशीर्वाद - Ashirwad)
• Festival (चाड - Chaad)

1. Draw their favorite part of Dashain

2. Write about how Dashain is different from their festivals

3. Practice writing Dashain-related words

Check students':

• Understanding of festival sequence
• Knowledge of main traditions
• Drawing accuracy of festival elements
• Class participation

• Compare with Christmas/other major festivals students know
• Emphasize family aspects of the celebration
• Help students understand the cultural significance
• Keep explanations simple and relatable
• Use drawings to illustrate complex concepts
• Make connections to students' own festival experiences
• Focus on the joyous aspects of the celebration

• Respect different religious beliefs
• Focus on cultural rather than religious aspects
• Acknowledge that not all Nepali people celebrate the same way
• Compare similarities with other harvest festivals worldwide