Festivals and culture — Dashain and Tihar (lesson 18)
Vocabulary for Nepal's biggest festivals — Dashain blessings, Tihar lights, Bhai Tika sister-brother ritual, plus the calendar dates and key phrases.
Public-domain FSI Nepali Basic Course audio, streamed via our server. If the player shows an error, the source file may be temporarily unavailable — try again later.
FSI 1979, lesson 18. The cultural calendar every visitor should know before stepping foot in October. First half (minutes 1–6): Dashain — Nepal's biggest 15-day festival celebrating Durga's victory over Mahishasur. Vocabulary: tika (vermillion rice blessing on forehead), jamara (yellow barley shoots), Phulpati (the seventh day), Vijaya Dashami (tenth day, main day). The classic blessing: 'sukha, shanti, samriddhi' (happiness, peace, prosperity). Second half (minutes 7–13): Tihar — the 5-day festival of lights. Day-by-day vocabulary: Kaag Tihar (crow worship), Kukur Tihar (dog worship), Gai Tihar (cow worship and Laxmi Puja), Goru Tihar (ox worship), Bhai Tika (sister-brother day). Closing minute: cultural drill on accepting tika graciously — never refuse, never wipe it off.
Attribution
Audio courtesy of the US Foreign Service Institute (Public Domain) and hosted by Live Lingua. This page links directly to their CDN; we do not re-host or modify the audio.