After Dashain, if there is any other festival in Nepal that is celebrated grandly, then it is Tihar festival. If comes few days after Dashain festival. People also this festival as Yampanchak. Tihar is also popularly known as Deepawali. It is also known as festival of lights because all the houses are adorned by long chain of artificial and traditional deeya’s. Deeya is a traditional lamp which is made of a clay pot. The pot are usually small and is filled with oil. Small twisted cotton thread is dipped in the oil and is light up using lit candle. People continuously pour oil in the lamp so that light would not stop.

Tihar in Nepal is celebrated for 5 days. It is celebrated grandly with family and relatives performing rites and rituals. Unlike Dashain, only putting Tika and seeking blessing is not limited during Tihar festival. Lots of varieties of foods are prepared, houses are decorated and people go out to play Deuso and Bhailo which is like a mix of trick and treat and carol singing. Deuso and Bhailo are fun ritual enjoyed with dance, songs, music and by giving blessings.

Today in this article, we will discuss why Tihar is celebrated and how it is celebrated for our readers.

Tihar falls few weeks after grand Bijaya Dashami (Dashain) festival. For the year of 2020, as per the English calendar, Tihar festival falls from 13 November 2020 to 16 November 2020. Usually, Kukur (Dog) Tihar used to be the first day of the Tihar festival but this year Kag (Crow) Tihar is first day of the festival. And Kukur tihar and Laxmi puja is celebrated on the same day that is on 14 November 2020. And as per the Nepali calendar, Tihar has fall in Kartik and Mangsir month. As per the Nepali calendar, Tihar festival will start from 28 Kartik 2077 to 1 Mangsir 2077. All the ritual and festival that is celebrated in this festival has significant meaning to it and is very important.

How Tihar festival is celebrated in Nepal?

As said earlier, first day of Tihar used to be Kukur Tihar but this year Kag Tihar is the first day of the festival.

Day 1 of Tihar for the year of 2020 is Kag Tihar which falls on 13 November 2020. In this day, people celebrate Kag (crow). In the surpertistious society of Nepal, crow signifies as the messenger of bad news. So on this day, people worship crow and offers grains and rice to make them happy. So that in the coming days, these creature will not bring any bad news.

Day 2 of Tihar for the year of 2020 contains three main events. And these are Kukur tihar, Gai Tihar and Laxmi puja. In Nepal during Kukur Tihar, people honor dogs by worshipping them. They are worn garland of marigold flower and offered delicious foods. In Nepalese society, people believe that dogs guides the souls of the dead reach heaven.

Likewise, another main event on this day is Gai Tihar. Gai is considered as the Goddess Laxmi also known as god of wealth. People during the day worships cows and offer foods them.

And similarly on the same day, people do Laxmi puja. This day can be considered as the busiest day among other days. Because in the day you will be doing puja of Dog and Cow and do through cleaning of the house for Laxmi Puja in the evening. People worship the goddess Laxmi for the wealth and prosperity. Every house will lit up in a decorative light in a belief to guide the goddess Laxmi to their home. They make small footsteps indicating the steps of the goddess Laxmi in front of their door or gate. Similarly, they also decorate the patio of the house with a colorful rangoli.

Day 3 of the Tihar for the year of 2020 is Mha puja, Goru puja and Govardhan Puja. Goru (Ox) puja is done by all the Hindu house hold of Nepal. They worship the ox and offer them delicious foods. Ox are important animals for farmers as they are used for the purpose of agriculture.

Similarly, people also worship cow dung as the symbolic representative of Govardhan Mountain during Govardhan Puja.

Furthermore, this day is one of the important day for Newar community of Nepal. It is the beginning of New Year for the Newar community and they celebrated thus new beginning by doing Puja of themselves. Hence it is called Mha puja. On this day, streets of Kathmandu are filled with people of Newar ethnic group as they all come on the streets with traditional musical instruments and welcome the New Year grandly.

Day 4 of this year Tihar festival is Bhai Tika. It is the last day of this grand festival. On this day, sister worship their brother for their longer and prosperous life. Bhai stands for Brother in English thus it is called Bhai Puja. Sister worship their brother by putting garland on their neck and put seven colors of Tika on the forehead each color signifying meaning to it. Brother usually give their sister money, sweets or other things as a gift. There is a profound mythological story behind the reason why people started celebrating Dashain festival in Nepal. Nowadays, sisters who do not have brother celebrate this festivals worshiping each other.

In this way, Nepalese celebrate the Tihar festival. It is a celebration of delight and happiness. People celebrate this festival with happiness. From the day second till the last day of Tihar, people play Deuso and Bhailo. People visit one to another house playing deuso and bhailo. Every household prepares Sel roti which is a traditional food of Nepal which can be considered as sweet delights. All in all, people celebrate this festival with convention and love amongst each other.