“ICH and Gender” introduces the mutual relationship between gender norms and ICH and emphasizes that understanding the intimacy between ICH and gender is important for effective ICH safeguarding and gender equality.

“ICH and Sustainable Development” summarizes the contributions of ICH to sustainable development based on three dimensions indicated in the action plan of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—inclusive social development, environmental sustainability, and inclusive economic development—and one prerequisite for sustainable development: peace and security.\n\n

Residents of Kathmandu Valley, for the first time, saw temples being closed and even barred from entering the sites due to Covid-19. Most of the festivals were cancelled, which didn’t even happen even after the devastating earthquake of 2015. Only the most important rituals were performed behind closed doors. Many festivals and rituals were limited to just the formality rituals and forgiveness rituals. Instead of huge crowds, there were empty squares and closed temple doors.\n\nFor the cities, towns, and villages within the Valley known for festivals, processions, and rituals throughout the year, Covid-19 proved to be cruel. The prolonged uncertainty has prompted communities and individuals to take alternatives for continuity of ICH with new normality.\n\nThe biggest festival of Patan city, a chariot Karunayama procession, saw a violent clash between locals and police on 3 September 2020. The sight of chariot with God inside was stranded on the roadside for several months and made locals take the decision to start pulling it. After this event, the consultation between local government, chief district officer and community members was held. A few days later, the symbolic procession and forgiveness rituals were performed. The strict measures for security and necessary precautions against Covid-19 were taken. Only limited numbers of people could pull the chariot and play musical instruments with masks and face shields.\n\nMany rituals, which were supposed to take place without the masses attending, continued in many places of Kathmandu Valley. One of the rituals was restoration of important scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism—Pragyaparmita in Buddhist Monastery of Kwa Baha/ Hiranyavarna Mahavihara in Patan. Pragyaparmita translates as “Perfection of Wisdom.” The one in this monastery is written in gold and contains eighty thousand stanzas that were written in 1224 CE. This restoration used to take place for a month every three years, which had one leap year according to the lunar calendar. This year with leap month, the Buddhists priests were seen working on it wearing masks behind the closed door of the monastery.\n\nSimilarly, the annual festival of Pachali Bhairav in Kathmandu was held from 17 to 21 October. The community members took extra steps to adjust to new normal with full precautions against Covid-19. The people who were carrying God Pachali Bhairav in the form of big pot were seen wearing Personal Protective Element. This scene was spectacular.\n\nLikewise, the town of Khokana in Kathmandu Valley also continued with their most important annual event Shikali Jatra from 19 to 23 October. The deities were with their traditional masks and attire, but the communities were with the mask to protect against the virus. This festival used to have huge crowds, but this year, only a limited number of people attended.\n\nAnother city in Bhaktapur also continued their important annual mask dance named Nava Durga that started on 24 October. To avoid the masses, all the rituals and dances were performed only in the square of the ancient Bhaktapur palace where limited people were allowed. Normally, this dance is performed in different places within city of Bhaktapur and nearby villages and towns, which would continue until June. But with pandemic, the continuation in other places is still uncertain.\n\nPeople tend to organize festivals, continue rituals despite the warning from the health professionals and government. Many legends and tales tell the stories of rituals and festivals initiated in ancient time to ward off evil spirits, droughts, and pandemic. Many people still hold on to these beliefs in Kathmandu Valley.\n\nPhoto 1 : Chariot of Machindranath guarded by police to avoid crowds. ©Monalisa Maharjan\nPhoto 2 : Devotees burning butter lamps while wearing masks. ©Monalisa Maharjan

Chariot festivals are interesting events in Kathmandu Valley where various communities come together to worship and celebrate; Janabaha Dhyo Jatra (as known locally) or Seto Machindranth Jatrar of Kathmandu is one such festival. The festival starts on Chaitra Sukla Asthami according to the lunar calendar. This year, a three-day festival will be celebrated from 26 to 28 March 2018.\n\nSurrounded by various stupas and statues of gods and goddesses in Janabaha Temple is a statue of Janabaha Dhyo, one of the eighteen chief Vihara of Kathmandu. The deity is worshiped as a form of Aryavalokitesvara and worshiped both by Hindus and Buddhists. The divine white face and feet are only the visible part of the statue while the rest is covered in cloth and jewelry. The Buddhist priest community looks over the deity, temple, and rituals all year round.\n\nDuring the festival, Buddhist priests put the statue in a palanquin and carry the deity from the temple to a place near Sanskrit College in Jamal. Once there, the deity is placed on the wooden chariot that the farmer community in Jamal would have constructed days before the procession. The wooden chariot is believed to be the where a potter found the deity while digging for clay. Assembled without using any nails but ropes made up of beda plant, the chariot is about ten meters high with four huge wheels with a long wooden pole in the front. The wooden chariot is built using almost three hundred pieces of wood, and the construction technique gives it flexibility while the devotees pull the chariot with the help of the rope. The chariot is in a sikhara style; gajura is placed on top. The chariot is decorated with juniper leaves.\n\nThe chariot procession takes place with all its fanfare. Gurjuya Paltan, the traditional army band, also joins the procession, including traditional musical groups from various quarters of the city and belonging to different castes. The procession follows a narrow path from the Tindhara Pathasala and enters the dense city through the Bhotahity (entry point of the ancient city). The chariot journey ends a ta place called Lagan. From there, the deity is carried back to the temple in a palanquin.\n\nVarious activities are held during the chariot procession; devotees come to pull the chariot while crowds stand in the street to watch. With vibrant colors, the chariot seemingly provides euphoria everywhere it passes. Devotees also come to worship the deity and light butter lamps in the morning and at night when the chariot is at rest. After the procession, the chariot is dismantled and the wood is saved for the next year.\n\nPhoto : Statue of Seto Machchhindra CC BY-SA 3.0 Krish Dulal

This article explores the significance of incorporating living heritage into teaching and learning, highlighting its potential to foster a deeper understanding, promote active engagement, and enhance the educational experience.

This booklet details the benefits of integrating living heritage into schools, and it explains the difference between teaching about ICH and teaching with ICH.\n\nThe second booklet, “Why Teach with Living Heritage?” has four parts:\n▶ Living heritage in education\n▶ Teaching and learning about living heritage \n▶ Teaching and learning with living heritage\n▶ The benefits of teaching and learning about and with living heritage

This booklet provides suggestions on how school principals and managers can work with teachers and community members to support the process of bringing living heritage into education.\nTo learn more about living heritage and how bringing it to schools can help to both improve quality of education and safeguard the community’s heritage, see Booklet 1 and Booklet 2 of this Resource Kit.

This booklet explains what living heritage is, as well as why and how it should be safeguarded.\n\nThe “What is Living Heritage?” booklet has three parts:\n▶ What is heritage?\n▶ Communities of living heritage\n▶ Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage

This booklet provides suggestions on how parents and community members can work with schools, teachers and their own children to support the integration of living heritage into education.\nSchools can teach about intangible cultural heritage (ICH) and with ICH. Bringing ICH (also known as living heritage) into schools makes students’ learning more connected to their unique local culture and context, helping them to become interested in their heritage and improving their learning outcomes. To find out more about living heritage and how bringing it into schools can help both to safeguard the community’s heritage and to improve the quality of education, see Booklet 1 and Booklet 2 of this Resource Kit.

This booklet proposes six practical steps that teachers can follow to bring living heritage into their classrooms, beginning with finding an idea then moving on to developing a lesson plan, teaching and then evaluating the results.\nThe six steps presented in this section propose a logical progression to guide you through this process. They have been tested in several pilot projects and adjusted to best fit the needs of the teachers.\nAs for most teaching approaches, there is not a one size-fit-all way to bring ICH into your school. You are welcome to adjust the process and sequence to respond to your context and needs, and to best serve your students and your learning objectives.\nThere are many possible ways of integrating living heritage into a school-based education context. You can do it alone or together with other teachers, in the classroom or as an extra- curricular activity, as a single lesson or as a series of lessons. See the context analysis template in Booklet 8: Tools and resources, to guide you through the process.

This booklet provides tools and resources that you can use when applying the approach of bringing living heritage into schools.\n\nThis booklet contains the following sections:\n▶ Resources\n▶ Tool 1: Sample lesson plan: What is living heritage?\n▶ Tool 2: Some suggestions for connecting school topics, living heritage and global citizenship education\n▶ Tool 3: Examples of tried and tested lesson plans\n▶ Tool 4: Gathering information\n▶ Tool 5: Teaching with living heritage inmulticultural classroom\n▶ Tool 6: Answers to questions you might have\n▶ Tool 7: Worksheet: Develop your own lesson plan connecting living heritage and a school activity

This booklet explains how teaching with living heritage, Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and other education priorities, such as Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Socio-Emotional Learning (SEL) and Mother-Tongue Based Education (MTBE), can complement each other to improve education quality.\n\nThis booklet has four sections:\n▶ Teaching and learning with living heritage to promote global citizenship\n▶ Teaching and learning with living heritage to promote sustainable development\n▶ Teaching and learning with living heritage and SEL\n▶ Teaching and learning with living heritage and MTBE