HINDU
(INDIA) CELEBRATIONS
DURGA
PUJA, Festival of the Divine Mother
When? September/October (for ten days)
Why? Worship of the Goddess
Durga (If you teach children from a Christian background, you could relate this
celebration to that of honoring Mary, the mother of Jesus.)
How? Weeks before the holiday,
life-sized clay figures of Durga are created and placed in shrines, and smaller
images are made by families for worship at home (the word "Puja" means
worship). Durga is honored and worshipped for nine days. On
the tenth day, all the figures are carried through the streets and then placed
in the rivers and streams of the villages where they float for awhile, but do
eventually sink.
Activities:
*Children could create clay (or playdoh) figures from the religious
background of their own family.
*Children can walk in a pretend
parade carrying their figures.
*Float various human-like toy figures in water
(play-doh, plastic, etc). Which ones float and which ones sink?
More
celebrations from India are coming if/when I have time to do the research.
Please share
your ideas too. E-mail me at stormie@preschoolbystormie.com
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