Sailesh Pathak

a Roll no: 20

Tihar
Tihar is the most celebrated festival after Dashain in Nepal. It is a five-day festival celebrated in
late autumn. It has its unique ways of celebration. It is also known as Deepawali and
Yamapanchak. It is the same as Deepawali celebrated by the hindus in India, Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh but with a regional variation.The festival is celebrated from Trayodashi of Kartik
Krishna to Kartik Shukla Dwitiya every year. Tihar in general signifies the festival of lights,
where diyas are lit both inside and outside the houses to make it illuminate at night. The five-day
festival is considered to be of great importance as it shows reverence to not just the humans and
the Gods, but also to the animals like crows, cows and dogs who maintain an intense relationship
with humans. 

There are various stories about the celebration of Tihar. One of the famous stories behind the
celebration of tihar is related to Yama the god of death and his sister Yamuna. Yama had been
staying away from his sister for a long time. His sister wanted to meet him so she asked various
sources to visit him and ask him to give her a visit. She sent crow, dog, and cow and at the end
she went herself to see her brother. She worshipped him with tika and flowers, she put him five
colored tika. Yamuna made a circle with mustard oil, Dubo Grass (Cynodon Dactylon) and put
Makhmali Mala (Globe Amaranth) and asked Yamaraj not to go till the oil, Dubo Grass and the
flower gets dry. Therefore, every sister worships her brother keeping him in the circle of mustard
oil, putting mala (garland) of Makhmali flower and Dubo grass.

On the first day of Tihar, crows are worshiped and fed early in the morning. People leave
different food items outside for crows to eat. Crow is considered to be the messenger of death.
People believe the crow gets the messages to the house in the morning. People worship it to
bring good luck themselves. 

The second day is called Kukur Tihar (worship of the dogs). It is also called the Khicha Puja by
the Newars. People offer garlands, tika and delicious food to dogs and acknowledge the
cherished relationship between humans and dogs. This day is also observed as Narka
Chaturdashi.

On the third day of tihar Cows are worshipped in the morning. Cows are worshipped with
sesame oil light, garland of flower and red color (abir). Wheat flour, sel roti, rice and dal are feed
to cows.  Disciples try to pass in-between four legs of the cow. Cow is regarded as mother in
Hindu religion, as we grow up drinking her milk. Some look cow as Goddess Lakshmi, the
goddess of wealth and prosperity. n the afternoon we clean our houses, paint floors with Red
Mud (Rato Mato) and cow dung (gobar). Small circle are made in front of the main gate and
decorated with colorful designs. Some people call it rangoli. Small designs of footsteps are
painted from the main entrance to the puja kotha. These footsteps are believed to be the footsteps
of goddess Lakshmi. Candles or pala are lit all over the house making it bright and
beautiful. There is a long tradition of going housed in the evening singing songs to ask for money
and foods. Generally girls and kids go out to neighbors sing traditional songs called Bhailo
songs. The tradition is called “Bhailo” and songs are called Bhailini songs. The song starts with
“Bhailini aain agana gunyo cholo magna, hey ausi ko din gai tiharo bhailo”. Badali kudali
rakheko, laxmi pooja gareko, hey ajako dina gaitiharo bhailo…” Meaning Bahilini are at your
door to ask for a gunyo cholo (Nepali traditional dress), today is no moon day and Cow pooja
and Bhailo day, the house is clean and you have done Lakshmi puja, today is cow pooja day and
Bhailo”.Fire crackers are blown in this day.  People play cards in Laxmi puja to welcome
goddess Laxmi in the night. People believe, laxmi comes to the house which is clean and
bright. In the evening the goddess of wealth Lakshmi is worshiped by lighting numerous lights
and lightening works. It is believed that by worshiping Laxmi and pleasing her in return she
gives us wealth. People worship wealth and food store this day.
On Govardhan puja Goru Tihar, three different Kinds of puja are performed. We perform Goru
Puja, or worship Oxen. We also perform Govardhan Puja, which is done by making a hill of
govardhan parbat using Cow dung. Cow dung has big importance in Hindu culture. In the old
days it was used for everything from light at night (Methane) to polish mud floors of traditional
houses. Still now no Puja is complete without cow dung in Nepali Hindu culture. n this night
Newar community perform Maha Puja also known as self-puja. It is done to purify our body. In
this puja a Mandap decorated with Saipatri (marigold flower), sweets and fruits and a special
Mala (garland) which is made of thread is kept. Each member of the family has one Mandap. A
female member of the family offers the person sitting on the Mandap a Sagun with her hands
crossed. Shagun usually consist of fried eggs, fruits, sweets, meat, fish, lentil and pastries. In the
left hand with egg and fish and in the right hand Rakshi (homemade alcohol). This day is also the
beginning of Nepal Sambat, Newari New year.  In the evening many Nepali children and young
men go house to house singing Deusi song (Aahai bhana mera bhai ho deusi re bhana na bhana
deusere). Deusi is very similar to Bhailo. Bhailo is primarily for female and Deusi for male.
However, now a days there is such distinction. People go in group with males and females
members to celebrate Bhailo and deusi both.
The fifth and last day of Tihar is Bhai Tika. Sisters make a special garland for their brothers from
a flower that wilts only after a couple of months, symbolizing the sister’s prayer for her brother’s
long life. Brothers sit on the floor while their sisters perform their puja. The puja follows a
traditional ritual in which sisters circle brothers, dripping oil on the floor from a copper pitcher
and applying oil to their brother’s hair, following which a seven-colour tika is applied on the
brother’s forehead. Along with the seven-coloured tika, sisters provide brothers with Sagun,
sweets, Makhamali (Gomphrena globosa) garland, and a sacred cotton thread of Tantric
importance, similar to Janai thread meant to protect their bodies. Next, brothers give tikas to their
sisters in the same fashion along with an exchange of gifts. This ritual is practised regardless of
whether the brother is younger or older than the sister.
On this day, Rani Pokhari Temple (located at central Kathmandu) is opened for those who do not
have any brother or sister. This is the only time in a year the temple is open to general public.