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Preparing for Tihar
In the week leading up to Tihar, the beautiful winter festival of lights, there are many activities taking place at Tashi Waldorf School.
The class 1, 2 and 3 students harvest rice they had planted during the monsoon season.
 Afterwards they thresh the harvested rice stalks, beating them on the ground to remove the rice seeds, which are then collected and dried. Later the rice will be boiled and eaten with lentils, tofu and vegetables in a school lunch.
The class students also make and decorate their very own Tihar candles. They attach a long wick to a stick and repeatedly dip it into heated pots of colored wax.
Once the wax has dried, they pattern the candles with multicolored beeswax.
The kindergarten students construct paper lanterns for Tihar out of watercolor paintings they have made.
Candles are then placed inside the lanterns to create a beautiful outpouring of light and color.
Celebrating Tihar
Celebrating local festivals is one way in which Tashi Waldorf School honors the rich cultural heritage of the many diverse ethnic groups in Nepal. Each year the school community celebrates Tihar, the festival of light. Tihar takes place over five days in the fall.
The fourth day of Tihar, Maha puja, is the worship of one’s self. This celebration reflects the mystical belief that the body is divine, and that the holy spirit dwells within each and every one of us. Maha Puja purifies the heart and soul for the coming year and asks for enlightenment in sacred ancient rites which bond one human being to another. In their homes, families draw mandalas on the floor using colourful powders, and lighting candles and oil lamps around them. The mandala, usually a circular geometric design, represents a map to enlightenment, the path to our inner self.
At school a large mandala is drawn filling the floor in the assembly hall. The children carry a candle in their hand as they walk to the center of the mandala, experiencing the journey to one’s true nature. It is moving to watch how each child walks the mandala in their own unique way, in the same way that each one of them embraces life and life’s journey. Some children just can’t wait and run to the center of the mandala, certain of the path they need to take. Other children hesitate, or lose their way but are able to find it again. Some children need their teacher to hold their hand and show them the way. It is magical to observe how the younger children take in the experience so deeply, reminding us how much they are still connected to all that is pure, innocent and sacred. Everyone at the school lights a candle and places it around the mandala. It is a spectacular sight: mandala, colors and light. The candles burn for a few hours and we feel the strong bond that ties the community together and the blessings of the school. The light in our innermost being feels stronger and brighter.
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