Tihar Festival of Light
Tihar, also called as Diwali or Deepawali, ranks second only to Dashain in Nepal. It usually takes place in Nepali Kartik month (October to November in Solar Calendar) and continues for five days. During this festival, people will honor crows, dogs, cows as well as Laxmi, the goddess of wealth and luck. As numerous candles and festive lanterns will be lit up for the Goddess of Laxmi, Tihar is also well-known as the festival of lights.
First Day Kag (Crow) Tihar: Worshiping Crows
In this day, people celebrate Kag (crow). In the surreptitious 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 creatures will not bring any bad news.
Second Day Kukur (Dog) Tihar: Thanking Dogs
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 guide the souls of the dead reach heaven.
Third Day Gai Tihar and Laxmi Puja: Honoring Cow and the Goddess of Wealth
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 be 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.
Fourth Day Goru Puja, Govardhan Puja and Maha Puja: Celebrating Newari New Year
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.
Mha Puja (Newar Community)
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.
Fifth Day Bhai Tika: Worship of Brother
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 Tihar festival in Nepal. Nowadays, sisters who do not have brother celebrate this festival worshiping each other.
