Unraveling a cultural mystery: Nepal

In this lesson, students explore two religious festivals in Nepal through audio recordings and photographs. Students begin with a vague knowledge about the festivals and develop a more thorough understanding as more information is revealed through the course of the lesson. The author recommends incorporating these activities into a larger lesson plan of your design.

A lesson plan for grade 7 Social Studies

By Kristin Post

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Related topics

• Learn more about Asia, Dashain, Himalayas, Kathmandu, Nepal, Tihar, discovery learning, festivals, geography, religion, tourism, and world cultures.

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The lesson plan is designed to use audio and visual documents as short introductions to a longer lesson plan of your own design over several days, possibly a week. The lesson also looks at Nepal through the eyes of tourism, which is a major source of income for the Nepalese and has been called Nepal’s “third religion.”

Some topics that are introduced in these plans which you may cover in more depth include the following: Hinduism, Buddhism, Nepal, Kathmandu, the Himalayas, tourism, cultural understanding, Nepali festivals Dashain and Tihar, the Indian festival of lights Diwali (which corresponds with Tihar.)

Learning outcomes

Students will learn more about the difficulties inherent in cultural understanding as they are introduced to religious traditions in Nepal. As they explore two important Nepali festivals using audio and visual documents, they will learn more about the Nepali culture through the eyes of tourists. These lessons reveal how much there is to know about Nepal, world religions and cultures, and how little can be known through the typically brief encounters most tourists have.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

Three to five class periods

Materials needed

• Audio recordings from Nepal:
  • Kathmandu religious ceremony
  • Kathmandu street music
  • Kathmandu neighborhood children singing
• Images from Nepal:
  • Two women digging out limestone dust for white-washing
  • Nepalese trekking guides in front of a white-washed wall
• Computer with internet connection and speakers to play recordings
• LCD projector to display images
• Printed descriptions of Nepal’s Dasain and Tihar festivals (See websites below for more information about these festivals.)

Background

Nepal is a small landlocked country bordered by the two most populous countries in the world, China and India. Nepal has a diverse culture and a rich ethnic heritage. Most of the population is Hindu, and Buddhism is the second most common religion. Even though these are different religions, they intermingle in Nepal, where they share common temples and common deities.

The capital city, Kathmandu, has many statues and squares where people practice religious ceremonies in the open. Likewise, it is possible to encounter religious practices and traditions in the countryside, particularly in the Himalayan mountains. These lessons will focus on these two geographic areas and the way Nepalis are seen and heard celebrating two different religious festivals — Dashain and Tihar. Your students are charged with discovering cultural clues and putting together a picture of what is important to the Nepali people and their religions.

The students will get this picture from incomplete information and evidence. Like the tourists that collected the audio and visual documents that students are using, your students may be at first overwhelmed by what they hear or see; it may be difficult to make sense of anything. Over time, they may become more adjusted to the differences they are experiencing. This lesson is not designed to allow students to feel that they have mastered content or an understanding of a religion or culture. Instead, students should feel that cultural understanding is confusing and mysterious, and that sometimes we are left with as many questions as we have answers.

Pre-activities

• You may wish to prepare for the Day One activity by finding images to help explain religious words that may come up in discussion, like “Ganesh,” “stupa,” and “prayer wheel.”

Activities

Day one: The mystery in the city

This lesson plan uses an audio recording of a religious festival in Nepal. Because the tourist who made the recording was not familiar with Nepal or Hinduism, she did not know what she was recording. Students will listen to the recording for audio clues, and use these clues over several lessons to learn more about culture and religion in Nepal.

1. You may read this introductory paragraph to introduce the audio clip:
   

   It is October, and you are a tourist in Nepal. You are walking around the capital city and the largest urban center of the country, Kathmandu. You are in a valley, so even though you can see the Himalayan mountains in the distance, it is quite warm. There are a lot of sights and sounds and smells to absorb, as the Nepali culture is very different from yours. Your feet are getting a little bit tired and you want something to drink. After turning a corner, you find yourself in a stone-paved square that is surrounded by other buildings. All around the square are families, arranged on blankets as if they are having picnics. You are used to having picnics in a green park or the countryside. You wonder why all of these families are here in the middle of a busy city having a picnic on a weekday. You stop to observe.

2. Tell the students that they will now listen to an audio recording of an actual tourist who had this experience, and instruct them to listen to the sounds and to her description.
3. Play the audio recording. (4 min 44 sec)

   Please upgrade your Flash Player and/or enable JavaScript in your browser to listen to this audio file.

   Download recording (Right-click or option-click) | About the recording

4. Play the recording again. This time, have the students take notes on the sounds that they hear. Have the students make note of any words that they do not know or understand. If you have found photos to help explain words like “Ganesh,” “stupa,” or “prayer wheel,” show them to students.
5. Ask the students to list what they put in their notes and which unfamiliar words they noted. You could do this as an entire class or in small groups. Ask students to share knowledge and explain words that they might understand that other students might not.

Your lesson

You may wish to use the rest of the lesson to focus on Kathmandu, the largest city in Nepal. Discuss its history, who lives there, the religions and how it has been described in ancient or contemporary songs and texts. Though Kathmandu has preserved some of its ancient history, it is also a place where Westerners from all over the world can find modern conveniences, and is therefore the center for the country’s tourist industry.

One way of focusing your lesson is to show photos and discuss information about locations in and around Kathmandu. For ancient history and Nepal’s religious and royal heritage, you can study Bhaktapur and Durbar Square. For a look at Buddhism, you can study the important temples Boudhanath and Swayambhunath. For a look at Hinduism, you can study the important temple Pashupatinath.

Summing up

As a class, discuss what the students are starting to discover about the ceremony they heard and how it may be connected to a particular religion. What have they learned about Kathmandu and the people who live there and visit there?

Day two: The mystery in the countryside

Like many tourists, your students will be moving today from the Nepali city of Kathmandu to the Himalayan mountains where they will encounter a more rural lifestyle. This lesson plan uses some photographs taken on the steep mountainous trails that wind through the Himalayan mountains in Nepal. Unlike a hike in the United States, on the Appalachian Trail, for instance, Nepal’s mountain trails are often paved, with staircases cut into the stone. Goats and donkeys are herded along these paths, tourists use them, and villagers and school children travel along them because there are very few roads in rural parts of Nepal. Students will look at two photographs and learn another aspect of how Nepalis observe important festivals.

1. You may read this introductory paragraph before showing the pictures:
   

   It is October, and you are a tourist in Nepal. Even though your destination was to see the tallest mountains in the world, the Himalayas, you have spent the last week in bustling, noisy Kathmandu. You needed that time to hire a trekking guide who would take you through the mountains. This was also a time to buy some needed hiking supplies and prepare for the 30-day hike you will take through the beautiful Annapurna mountain range. Yesterday, you took a long bus ride to Pokhara, and spent the night there. Today, you and your trekking guide have put on your heavy packs, and you are walking along the narrow trails that take you into the mountains. While you are on these trails, you are walking through small villages where people grow rice or herd goats. Because the main access to these villages is by footpath instead of roads, there are many ways this rural lifestyle is different from yours. Let’s look at some photographs and see what we can find.

2. Display the first photograph, “Two Women Digging Out Limestone Dust for White-washing.” Note: You will need to display the photograph in color for the students.
3. As they look at the photograph, ask the students what they observe. You may want to explain/research what limestone is, and why it is important for making this white color.
4. Consider the clues in the picture, such as whether or not the work appears to be difficult, the gender of the people working, the general appearance of the geography and the people; whether or not it appears as if life in the Himalayan mountains looks relaxing or strenuous; whether or not this type of scene corresponds with students’ expectations when they think about hiking in the Himalayas.
5. Display the second photograph, “Nepalese Trekking Guides in Front of a White-washed Wall.”
6. As they look at the photograph, ask the students to consider the clues in the picture, such as:
   • where this photograph was taken (information is given in the description)
   • what material the wall is made out of
   • what purpose the building might serve
   • how buildings in Nepal differ from what you would see in the United States
   • what the importance of the color white is at it may relate to a festival celebrating a rice harvest
   • the significance of white in other cultures (For example, Western women wear it to get married; in China it is worn as a color of mourning.)

   Now students have some information from two different parts of Nepal; the urban capital and the rural countryside. From the description that accompanies the photos, they also know about two different Hindu festivals that are celebrated in the autumn months and one of the rituals associated with those festivals.

Your lesson

You may want to use the rest of this lesson to discuss the Himalayas. You can discuss some of the tallest mountains, such as Mt. Everest, Annapurna, and K2, to name just a few. You can also discuss why tourists want to go there. Consider the rural lifestyle and rural cultures in Nepal. You can focus on how cultures and tourism are linked through the Himalayas.

Summing up

Discuss with students what they have discovered about rural life in Nepal. What did they learn about the two festivals celebrated in the fall? Students have now listened to audio and looked at photographs. What can photos reveal that audio can’t and vice-versa? What kinds of sounds could they imagine hearing in the Himalayan trail where these photographs were taken?

Day three: The celebration continues on the streets and in the neighborhoods

This activity uses two audio recordings of different aspects of a religious festival in Nepal. These recordings are further examples of how Hindu festivals are celebrated. This lesson also contains some links to provide students more information about the festivals and what Nepalis traditionally do to celebrate Dashain and Tihar.

1. You may wish to read this paragraph to introduce the two audio clips:
   

   It is October, and you are a tourist in Nepal. You have finished your trek through the Himalayas. Your leg and back muscles are still sore, but you had a wonderful time. You enjoyed getting to know your Nepali guide, and learning more about the culture in Nepal’s countryside. You will never forget the astounding beauty of the Himalayas, especially when you watched the sunrise hit the snow-covered peaks. However, it was not always serene, and it was rarely green. Sometimes it was rocky and dusty and hot and the trails were crowded with other tourists and local foot traffic. You are very glad you went, but it’s nice to be able to rest and recover from the high altitude back in Kathmandu.

   Your Nepali guide has been kind enough to invite you to his house for a special dinner this evening, celebrating a Hindu festival. You are excited to meet his family. On your way to his house, you have gone shopping for a present. You have just come out of the bank, where you stopped to take out some Nepali rupees. On the street, you notice a crowd gathering. You hear music from far away, and as it gets closer, you realize there is an informal parade happening.

2. Tell the students they will now listen to a recording from an actual street parade that was recorded in Kathmandu. Play the audio recording. (1 min 15 sec)

   Please upgrade your Flash Player and/or enable JavaScript in your browser to listen to this audio file.

   Download recording (Right-click or option-click) | About the recording

3. Ask students to identify what instruments they can recognize. Discuss how the music sounds. Ask your students to guess more about the scene. Who are the people playing these instruments? Why might they be playing in the middle of a street? Who are they playing for? What kinds of parades have students seen in their lives, and what were they like?
4. Read this paragraph before playing the second audio clip:
   

   Now you are at the house of your Nepali guide. You have met all of his sisters and brothers and his mother and father and grandfather. The entire family shares just a few rooms, but they are all very kind and happy. The smaller children have shown you their notebooks and the lessons they are learning in school, while your guide translates for you. For dinner, you sat on the floor around several silver dishes, and you ate rice and daal (lentil beans) and yogurt with your hands. Then you hear singing outside. In front of the house where your friend lives, you find a group of children of different ages singing a repetitive song. After the children finish, your hosts give them a bit of money before they leave.

5. Tell the students that they will now listen to a recording of the song that the children in Kathmandu sing during a special Hindu festival. Play the audio recording. (53 sec)

   Please upgrade your Flash Player and/or enable JavaScript in your browser to listen to this audio file.

   Download recording (Right-click or option-click) | About the recording

6. Ask the students to pick out the details: How many children does it sound like, and what are they doing? What words do the children repeat? What kind of instrument is played in the background? What kind of ritual does this seem to be? What do you think the children do with the money they get from the different houses?

Your lesson

1. Lead a discussion of the two important festivals, Dashain and Tihar. Throughout these three lessons, students have heard and seen different rituals associated with these festivals because they are celebrated during the same time of year, which is also a popular time for tourists.
   • Dashain is the biggest festival of the year, celebrated over fifteen days in September or October. It is primary a celebration for a successful rice harvest, it is a time of travel for families to get together, and it also may involve a day of animal sacrifice, among other special rituals.
   • Tihar is a shorter, five-day festival, and is known as Diwali in India — also called the festival of lights. Like Dashain, Tihar is associated with a story about the triumph of good over evil, as it is told in the Hindu text the Ramayana. Many different animals are honored during this celebration, which falls after Dashain in the calendar.
2. Ask the students to consider what they now know about the two festivals. What can they say about the festivals and how Nepalis celebrate them? What did they think about the parade music? What about the children singing? Can your students think of specific things they do during religious or other holidays that adults don’t usually do? What about things adults do that children don’t?
3. Print out a description of the various rituals that are conducted on specific days of these two festivals, and a summary of each festival and its importance. See websites below for some optional links for you to use.
4. Replay the last audio clip of the neighborhood boys singing. There is a specific day of a specific festival when this ritual occurs. Have the students read the descriptions of Tihar from the Nepal Vista website and try to figure out on which day of the Tihar festival this song is sung. (Answer: this song comes on the third or fourth day of Tihar. The songs are known as Deusi, because it is sung by boys.)
5. Read the translated English lyrics from the website. (Under “Day 4,” “A Sample of Deusi Song.”) These lyrics mention mud and slippery trails. Why are trails mentioned by a boy’s song in Nepal? Are your students reminded of any festivals or celebrations in the United States that involve children going from door to door?
6. Now see if students can recall the other rituals you’ve studied this week. See if they can remember the details from the first day’s audio recording in the square in Kathmandu. Which day of which festival might have that corresponded to? (A definite answer to this question is not known.)
7. Discuss the photographs studied the second day. Think about what the people were doing. Think about the color of the whitewash and the color of rice. Which festival might these women have been preparing for? Is rice celebrated or mentioned in the description of Dashain and Tihar? Why might a religious ceremony include a celebration of food?
8. Discuss the parade music you listened to earlier in today’s lesson. Look at the list of rituals for both Hindu festivals and have the students decide how many days music might be played. Think about the bells from the first day. Why is music important in festivals?
9. Look at the list of rituals and think of how many involve lighting something: fireworks, incense, candles. What might light symbolize in these festivals and religious ceremonies (that have to do with good triumphing over evil)? What American festivals and ceremonies involve lights?

Summing up

Students have used audio and visual clues to learn more about Nepal and its religious festivals. Like the thousands of tourists who visit Nepal every year, the students may not have known very much about the Nepali culture or its festivals. But, after listening and looking at the evidence, they have pieced together a lot of information about Nepal and two important Hindu celebrations, Dasain and Tihar. What was it like to not know anything and guess about what was going on as they went along? What kind of information do they still not know? How can they find out more about the festivals and what they’ve heard in the audio and visual documents they have studied?

You may also want to have a recap discussion of their experiences on all three days of the lesson:

• Recap day one: What do students recall from the first day’s audio recording of the families having “picnics” in the square in Kathmandu? Using the information from the festival websites listed below, to which day of which festival might the ceremony have corresponded? (The true answer is not known.)
• Recap day two: Discuss the photographs studied the second day. Think about what the people were doing. Think about the color of the whitewash and the color of rice. Which festival might these women have been preparing for? Is rice celebrated or mentioned in the description of Dashain and Tihar? Why might a religious ceremony include a celebration of food?
• Recap day three: Discuss the parade music you listened to on day three of this lesson plan. Look at the list of rituals for the two Hindu festivals, Dashain and Tihar, and decide how many days during the festivals might involve music. Think about the bells from the first day. Why is music important in festivals?

Think of how many rituals in Dashain and Tihar involve lighting something: fireworks, incense, candles. What might light symbolize in these festivals and religious ceremonies (that have to do with good triumphing over evil)? What American festivals and ceremonies involve lights?

Assessment

You may choose to have students craft a written response to the “summing up” questions at the end of the lesson.

Websites

• Dashain Festivities in Nepal” from the Visit Nepal website
• Dashain article from Wikipedia
• Tihar article from Wikipedia
• “Tihar Festival of Nepal” from Nepal Vista website
• Tihar photos from Flickr
• Kathmandu photos from Flickr
• Annapurna Trail photos from Flickr