Goals:  Explore the diversity of Asian Indian festival traditions.

Objectives:  Students will be able to:

1. Locate India on a world map or globe and list the major languages spoke in the country.
2. Explore various festivals celebrated by Asian Indians.
3. Identify various spices traditionally used in Indian cooking.
4. Appreciate the color and pageantry found in Indian dance and music.
5. Explain patterns and designs used in Indian art and decorations.

Questions to be answered:

1. Where is India located in the world? How large is the population and what are the major groups? What are some of the major languages spoken?
2. What are the main festivals celebrated by Asian Indians?
3. What are some spices used in Indian cooking?
4. Why are traditional music and dance important in Indian culture? What are other traditional art forms in India?
5. What are mehandhi (henna) and rangoli? On what occasions are mehandhi and rangoli popular?

Suggested Methods and Activities:

1. Locate India on a world map and find information online on the many languages spoke in the country. What are some of the differences among the various regions of India (north and south, east and west, coastal and inland)?  What religions are practiced there?  Have students write Hindi characters to observe the differences between English and Hindi.  
   • Iowa Folklife Volume II, Asian Indian Unit
   • Omniglot: Writing systems & languages of the world
     

   *This activity most appropriate for grades 5-8, but can may be modified for younger grades.

2. Students choose a book to read on Indian festivals (e.g. Story Of Divaali by Jatinder Verma or choose from resources).  Students could write a review of this or another book. Each student could make a clay pot to hold a candle, as may be used in homes in India during the Festival of Lights.
   • Indian Festivals

*This activity may be used with all grade levels by choosing age-appropriate books.

3. Students smell, taste and feel various spices (whole cinnamon, fennel, cloves, mustard seeds, whole coriander, cardamom) used in Indian cooking. Show students a mortar and pestle. Have them grind the whole spices (one at a time) with a mortar and pestle. How do the smells change? Combine all the ground spices—how do the smells change? If possible, try sautéing the spices in hot oil—how do the smells change again? Make a checklist of which spices are used in students’ homes and for what purpose. How are these spices used in Asian Indian homes?  The class could also take a fieldtrip to an Indian restaurant and eat a meal there. Consider inviting a student’s parent or Asian Indian traditional cook into the classroom for a demonstration and talk.
   
   • Directory of Complete spices in India
     

   *This activity most appropriate for grades K-4.  Grades 6-12 may find recipes in the resources listed and cook a traditional dish to share with the class as well as visit an Asian Indian market to purchase spices and other ingredients.

4. Students watch a clip from an Indian (Bollywood) movie and discuss the differences between the movies they watch in the U.S. and traditional Indian movies.  Visit resources for a list of movies.

*This activity may be used with all grade levels by choosing age appropriate movies.

5. Students listen to traditional Asian Indian music and watch traditional Asian Indian dance. Why are traditional music and dance important in Indian culture? What are some different forms of music? Of dance? Listen to the sound selections, watch the videos, and read about the dance and music.
   
   • Go to the Asian Indian Unit and listen to the audio clip of the song poem
   • Two Homes, One Heart: Sacramento Sikh Women and their Songs & Dances
     
   • Classical Indian Music 101
     
   • Music India Online
     
   • Classical Dances of India
     
   • Iowa Roots, Haema Nilakanta
   • Introduction to Indian Music
   
   
6. Students create designs used in mehandhi and rangoli on note-cards. Using sidewalk chalk, students create the designs on school blacktops.  mehandhi kits are available at Walgreens in many towns and cities. Invite a student’s parent or someone in the Asian Indian community familiar with doing mehandhi into the classroom to demonstrate this “temporary tattoo” (note that many of Iowa’s immigrants from eastern Africa and the Middle East also use henna).  On what occasions are these traditional art forms practiced and why?
   Resources for examples and patterns:
   
   • mehandhi:
     • Painted Bride
     • mehandhi Information
     • Two Homes, One Heart: Sacramento Sikh Women and their Songs & Dances
       
   • Rangoli:
     
     • About Rangoli, Rangoli designs, and how to make Rangoli
       
     • Rangoli craft for kids
       
     • Rangoli: Traditions of the Threshold
       
     • Rangoli Information
       

   *This activity may be used with all grade levels. Older students (grades 7-12) might wish to practice traditional designs included with the henna kits.

Lesson Plans created by World of Difference and Riki Saltzman. For multicultural programming in your classroom, go to World of Difference.