Category: Religious Education

Posted on

Diwali (Hindu festival)

Diwali is a Hindu festival celebrated on the 15th day of Karthika, which falls between mid-October and mid-November in the Gregorian calendar. This year that will be on 30th of October.

Known as the Festival of Light, it signifies the triumph of good over evil and light over dark. The festival for 5 days in total with the main night being the darkest night.

fireworksThe word Diwali means “rows of lighted lamps” and is celebrated by people lighting up their houses and businesses. Traditionally earthenware pots, or diyas, would be used. Nowadays fireworks are also included in the celebrations.

There are two reasons for the festival. One is to mark the return of Lord Rama and his wife, Sita, after their 14 year exile from the kingdom. The other is to honour Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. The lamps are to help her find her way to people’s houses and businesses, where doors and windows are left open to allow her inside.

rangoliInside, houses are decorated, especially with beautiful Rangoli patterns on the floors and near doorways to Temple Atlanta.

The day is also celebrated by families getting together, praying, feasting and exchanging gifts.

Related posts: Diwali (Sikh festival)

Posted on

The Story of Rama and Sita

When handsome prince Rama married the beautiful Sita, he planned to rule the kingdom with her when his time came to take the throne. However, his wicked stepmother tricked the king into sending them away, and when the old king died she placed her own son on the throne.
Meanwhile Rama and Sita were living in the forest to where they had been exiled. One day Sita saw a beautiful golden deer, and she begged Rama to catch it for her. He didn’t want to leave her alone, but he couldn’t refuse her request, and so he set off in pursuit of the deer.

While Sita was all alone, the evil demon Ravanna appeared and he carried her off. To make sure that Rama would be able to find her again, Sita left a trail of her jewellery behind her him to follow. Fortunately, Ravanna didn’t notice, but Hanuman, the monkey king, did.

Eventually, Rama caught up with the golden deer but as soon as he touched it, it turned into a demon and he realised that he had been tricked.

Quickly he raced back to where he had left Sita and he was devastated to find that she had disappeared.

Hanuman explained what had happened, and showed him the trail of jewels that she had left behind. They followed the trail until it lead them to an island surrounded by rough seas and huge waves crashing on the rocks.

Hanuman was able to fly, and so he flew across to the island to check whether Sita was there. He found her, desperately unhappy at being apart from Rama and refusing to marry Ravanna.

Hanuman flew back to Rama and confirmed that Sita was there, but the problem remained that the island for surrounded by a dangerously stormy sea. Hanuman ordered his monkeys to help, and they build a bridge so that Rama could walk across to the island.

Ravana was furious when he realised what was happening and there was a great battle. Eventually Rama was victorious and he rescued Sita.

Together Rama and Sita set off towards their old kingdom. The people were overjoyed to see the rightful king returning and they lit lamps to guide him home.

This story of the triumph of good over evil celebrated is every year by Hindus in the festival called Diwali, also known as the Festival of Light.

Posted on

Eid al-Adha

Eid al-Adha, or greater Eid, is celebrated on the 10th day of Dhu al-Hijah, the 12 month of the Islamic calendar. This year this will be around 10th-11th September, depending on the sighting of the new moon.

Also known as the feast of the sacrifice, it should not be confused with Eid al-Fitr, the feast of the breaking of the fast. Eid al-Adha celebrates the prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son.

The story tells how Allah appeared to Ibrahim in a dream and asked him to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, as a sign of his obedience. Just as Ibrahim was about to perform the sacrifice, Allah stopped him and gave him a lamb to slaughter instead. The same story is recounted by Jews and Christians who tell of Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son, Isaac.

Many Muslims sacrifice a sheep or goat for this festival and the meat is shared equally between family, friends and the poor. Anyone in the UK who chooses to do this makes an arrangement for the sacrifice to be carried out in a slaughterhouse.

As with many Muslim festivals, the day starts with prayers at the mosque before the rest of the celebrations – getting together with family and friends and exchanging gifts – begin

Eid Mubarak

Posted on

When is a test not a test?

It’s amazing what a difference a word makes. Say the word “test” and people fly into a panic: I don’t know it! I can’t remember it! I hate tests!

This year, instead of doing tests at the end of a unit, we have had quizzes instead. Now children are not stupid, and if you just swap the words “quiz” and “test”, they still know it’s a test. So we had real pub-quiz style quizzes. The children wrote their team name (which had to include their own name) at the top of the paper and then huddled their arms round it to stop anybody else copying, and before we started they had to switch off their invisible phones.

I put the questions into rounds and read them out in my best Quizmaster voice. For a bit of extra authenticity I made one of the rounds a picture round…. In fact the only thing we lacked was the chance to play a joker for double points! And at the end I announced the “winners” who won a round of applause from the rest of the class.

The children loved it. In fact if anybody was off sick on the day of the quiz I had to delay announcing the winners, because next lesson the children who had been absent would beg for the chance to sit in the corner quietly and do the quiz on their own!

Did it make the children who didn’t win feel bad? Well, actually – no. Because it was a bit of fun not a test, there was no pressure and I found that even the children who found the subject more difficult did really well in the quizzes. Sometimes they even won!

During lessons they became more willing to admit if they didn’t understand something, so any uncertainties and misconceptions could be dealt with more quickly. They became more willing to take risks because they knew that making mistakes wasn’t a disaster – it was just a step on the road to the learning – and this helped them to learn even more. And the more they learnt the better they did in the end of unit quiz.

At the end of the year the children voted the quizzes the most fun thing they had done in that topic, and as I looked at the class I knew that every single one of them had made more progress than I had imagined possible.

Would this work with every class? I don’t know. What I do know is that for this particular mix of children, turning those end of unit tests into quizzes made the children happy, relaxed and enthusiastic learners.

Posted on

Eid al-Fitr

Eid al-Fitr, or lesser Eid, celebrates the breaking of the fasting during Ramadan. It is celebrated on the first day of the month of Shawwal, which is the 10th month of the Islamic calendar. This year that will be around 5th July, depending on the sighting of the new moon.

To non-Muslims, the festival, which lasts between 1 and 3 days, is probably most noted for the feasting: lavish, rich foods are prepared and shared and fasting is not permitted on this day. Homes are decorated, gifts are given and family and friends are visited.

But the festival is not just about the food. Most Muslims will wake early and then go to the mosque, or to an agreed outdoor meeting place, where they pray together before the celebrations begin. Eid al-Fitr is a time for thanking Allah for giving them the strength to exercise self-control during Ramadan. It’s a time to forgiveness and putting differences aside, and it’s a time for remembering loved ones who are no longer here.

Eid Mubarak!