15/11/2020
🌸Tihar Festival in Nepal is, essentially, the equivalent of Deepavali in India and other Hindu lands.🕉
On the five days of Tihar, the following traditions are commonly practised in Nepal:
1️⃣Day One: On this day, crows and ravens are worshipped and fed sweet foods and delicacies, which are left for them to find on Hindu rooftops. The caw-caw of the gathering crows is a symbol of sadness to Hindus, and feeding the crows is thought to prevent various calamities.
2️⃣Day Two: Day two is the day of the dogs. Dogs are thought to be messengers of the god of death and are worshipped on this day every year. You will see dogs wearing wreaths, and bearing red or white dots (“tika”) on their foreheads.
3️⃣Day Three: In the morning of day three, cows are worshipped. They are thought to be symbols of prosperity, and so wreaths and tika are also placed upon them. On the evening of the third day, the Hindu goddess of wealth is honoured by lighting up oil lamps in doorways and windows of homes. Music, singing, and dancing are also done door-to-door in exchange for tips. Those tipped spend the night counting up their new-found wealth.
4️⃣Day Four: On the fourth day, oxen are worshipped in much the same way as the cows and dogs. Some, though not all Hindus, worship toward Goverdhan mountain on this day and make a “mini-mountain” of cow dung to represent it. Wasting nothing, even dung is commonly made use of in Nepal.
5️⃣Day Five: The final day of Tihar has sisters putting tika on their brothers’ foreheads to secure for them a long and happy life. This tradition is based on the story of a Hindu goddess who did the same to her brother. At special ceremonies, sisters encircle brothers and put seven-coloured tika on their foreheads, and gifts are also exchanged.
🙏Credit/Read more at https://publicholidays.asia/nepal/tihar-festival/
