Tihar, also known as Deepawali or Diwali or the festival of lights, is a festival celebrated by Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, for driving away darkness with light and defeating evil with goodness. Later, it's also regarded as a celebration of "inner light" and some Buddhists also celebrate this festival.

It is held in high regard, only second to the Dashain. It's is also known as the most beautiful festival. In some parts of India, it even replaced Dashain as the largest festival. Tihar falls on November 13th and lasts until the 17th in 2020.

Customs of Tihar

Tihar is considered to be the most beautiful festival in Nepal. However, in the traditional Nepalese culture, the 5-day Festival is actually related to death. On each day of the Tihar festival, people will worship a kind of animal, which has a symbolic meaning of death.

Kaag Tihar – Day 1

The first day of Tihar is called Kaag (crow) Tihar. Crows are principally worshipped today. In Hinduism, crows are believed to be the messengers of the death god Yama, who will guide the dead to the underworld. The crows have been busy all year, and only this day they can rest.

In the early morning of that day, people would light up oil ropes and incense candles in the courtyard and interiors put the cooked rice on the leaves, and leave it in front of the door to feed the crows. Here crows symbolize people's afterlife. The more crows that gather to eat rice, the more prosperous the people's afterlife. Otherwise, they will report bad news and make people feel uneasy for the next year.

Kukur Tihar (Day 2)

The second day is called Kukur Tihar. Dogs are revered by people on this day. In the Hindu concept, dogs are said to be the gatekeepers of the underworld. And these dogs can lead the souls of deceased people across the river of death, bringing their souls to heaven. Dogs also represent a person's previous life and they could prevent evil things from harassing the soul of the deceased.

On Kurkur Tihar,  dogs will enjoy the highest courtesy. People would mark dogs with a red dot "tika", a symbol of blessing, put marigold garlands on dogs, and prepare a hearty meal for the dogs to pray for convenience when they met the gatekeepers of the underworld.

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Bhai Tika (Day 5)

The fifth and last day of Tihar is called Bhai Tika. On this day, the brothers in the family will go to their sister's residence to receive a variety of colors of "tika" and garlands as well as blessings to enhance the bond between brothers and sisters. The sisters will put seven-colored tikas on their brother's forehead. And then the brothers would follow the same ritual to put Tika on their sisters and give them some money in return.

Those who don't have a sister or whose sisters are not around can ask the neighbor’s sisters to bestow blessings. Those who don't have siblings can head to the Queen's Pool in the center of Kathmandu, where they worship and receive blessings.