Course
Unit 17 · Intermediate
Festivals and celebrations
Nepal runs on festivals. Learn to greet people at Dashain and Tihar, accept an invitation, and join the celebration.
In this unit you'll learn to
- Give and return festival greetings
- Know the basics of Dashain and Tihar
- Accept or decline an invitation politely
- Wish someone a happy new year
Listen along
Festivals and culture — Dashain and Tihar (lesson 18)
Public-domain audio — FSI Nepali Basic Course (via Live Lingua).
A Dashain invitation
Host
दशैंको शुभकामना!
Dashain-ko shubhakaamanaa!
Happy Dashain!
Guest
तपाईंलाई पनि!
Tapailai pani!
To you too!
Host
भोलि घरमा आउनुहोस् न।
Bholi gharmaa aaunuhos na.
Do come to our home tomorrow.
Guest
अवश्य आउँछु। के छ?
Avashya aaunchhu. Ke chha?
I'll definitely come. What's the occasion?
Host
टीका लगाउने।
Tika lagaaune.
We'll put on tika.
Vocabulary
- चाड chaad
- festival
- दशैं Dashain
- Dashain (the biggest festival)
- तिहार Tihar
- Tihar (festival of lights)
- शुभकामना shubhakaamanaa
- good wishes / greetings
- टीका tika
- tika (mark on the forehead)
- निम्तो nimto
- invitation
- अवश्य avashya
- certainly / definitely
- मनाउनु manaaunu
- to celebrate
- खुसी khusi
- happy
- नयाँ वर्ष naya barsha
- new year
Grammar
Festival greetings
The all-purpose form is [festival]-ko shubhakaamanaa! ("Happy [festival]!"): Dashain-ko shubhakaamanaa!, Tihar-ko shubhakaamanaa!, Naya barsha-ko shubhakaamanaa! ("Happy New Year!"). Reply Tapailai pani! ("To you too!").
Accepting an invitation
An invitation is a nimto. Accept warmly with Avashya aaunchhu ("I'll certainly come") or Hunchha, aaunchhu ("okay, I'll come"). To decline gently: Maaph garnuhos, aaja milena ("sorry, today doesn't work").
Dashain and Tihar in a nutshell
Dashain (autumn) is Nepal's biggest festival — elders place tika and jamara on younger relatives with blessings. Tihar, weeks later, is the five-day festival of lights honouring crows, dogs, cows and, finally, brothers and sisters. Knowing the words lets you join in rather than just watch.
Practice
1. Wish someone "Happy Dashain!"
Show answer
दशैंको शुभकामना! (Dashain-ko shubhakaamanaa!)
2. Reply "To you too!"
Show answer
तपाईंलाई पनि! (Tapailai pani!)
3. Accept an invitation: "I'll definitely come."
Show answer
अवश्य आउँछु। (Avashya aaunchhu.)
4. What is the festival of lights called?
Show answer
तिहार (Tihar).