Tihar is one of the
most important festivals for Hindus in Nepal. The festival of Tihar takes place
in late autumn and lasts for five days. This festival is also called the
festival of lights. It is a time when all the houses light oil lamps, and the
city is full of lights and decorations. This festival is about worshipping
different animals such as the crow, the dog, and the cow. During Tihar, the
people also worship their brothers and sisters and the goddess of wealth,
Laxmi.
On the first day of the
festival, people worship crows. Every family cooks a delicious meal in the
morning. Before they eat, each member of the family puts some food on a plate
of leaves and places it outside for the crows to eat. People believe crows are
the messenger of the Lord of Death. They worship crows to keep sadness away.
The second day, people
worship dogs. They decorate dogs with garlands of flowers around their necks.
They give dog’s delicious food and put a red tika (a special powder) on their
foreheads. They even do this to stray dogs. It is a day to respect all dogs.
They pray for the dogs to guard their homes. Dogs with garlands of flowers can
be seen everywhere.
The third day is the
most important day of the festival. Early in the morning, people start to
worship the cow. The cow is the symbol of wealth and is the most holy animal
for Hindus. They put tika on the cows’ foreheads and a garland of flowers
around their necks. They give the cows nice things to eat. People place the
cows’ manure in different parts of their houses. Later, in the evening, they
worship the goddess Laxmi. If people please the goddess, she will give them
wealth. People clean and decorate their houses. They put oil lamps in every
door and window. A female member of the family performs a special ceremony or
puja. She then puts a red mud footprint on the floor entering the home and
makes a trail to the room where the family worships the goddess. In this room,
there are pictures and an icon of the goddess. There is also a money box where
each year the family puts money away for the goddess. In the evening, group of
people go from door to door of their neighbors’ homes and sing songs of the
goddess. They receive gifts in return.
The fourth day is a
little different. The things people worship on this day depend on their
cultural background. Most people worship the ox. They put tika on the oxen and
a garland around their necks. They also give them delicious food. Other people
make a small hill out of cow manure, put some grass on it, and perform a
special ceremony, or puja, on it. Yet other people worship themselves.
The fifth day is the
day of brothers and sisters. Sisters wish their brothers long life and
prosperity. If you do not have a brother or sister, you can make one of your
relatives or friends a brother or a sister. On this day, sisters will perform a
puja and apply a special tika on their brothers. Then they put garlands around
their brothers and give them special gifts of food. Brothers in return honor
their sisters; they put garlands around their necks and give them gifts of clothes
and money. This festival finally ends after five days of cooking, decorating,
eating, singing, dancing, shopping, relaxing, gift giving, and worshipping.
There is no doubt that Tihar is the most popular festival in Nepal.
Source: National Geographic learning
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