Tihar, also called Yamapanchak, is the second largest
festival of Nepal, especially Hindus, after Dashain. Tihar begins from Krishna
Pakshya Trayodashi i.e. 13th day of waning moon in the month of Kartik to
Kartik Shukla Dwitiya i.e. the second day of the waxing moon every year. In
English calendar, these dates lie between October and November. Thus, Tihar is
a five-da Nepalese Hindu festival celebrated in the late autumn which comes
after 12 days of Kojagrat Purnima, the last day of Bada- Dashain. The word
Tihar or Deepawali means the festival of lights and colors, when many candles
and diyos (oil lamps) are lit both inside and outside the houses to make
it glittering at night. The five-day festival is regarded to be of great
significance as it shows reverence to not just the humans and the gods, but
also to the animals like crow, dog and cow, who maintain an intimate &
unique relationship with the humans.
Day 1: The singularity of Tihar is contributed by this first
day when a lowly creature like a crow is worshipped which is not found anywhere
else in the world as a culture. We offer sweets, dishes and delicacies in a
home-made plate made by knitting Shorea robusta leaves, which we call TAPARI
keeping it on the rooftop. We decorate the plates with flowers and call the
crows to come up to eat.The cawing of the crows symbolizes the sadness and
grief in the Hindu mythology, so the devotees offer crows food to avoid grief
and death in their homes. The crows are also said to be the messenger of
Yamaraj, the deity of death. This means, if a crow caws at your house in the
morning, it heralds bad news.
Day 2: Dogs are worshipped as a protector of the house on
the second day of Tihar. People offer floral garlands, teeka and delicious
foods to the dogs to acknowledge the cherished relationship between humans and
the dogs. The day is also observed as Narak Chaturdashi.
Day 3: We worship the cows on the third day morning of
Tihar. In Hinduism, cow is regarded as the kind mother who gives humans nutritious
milk and fertile manure to grow crops. Even now, cow dung is plastered on the
floor routinely for the purification of the house. Cow urine is also regarded
as the purifying liquid in many occasions. Cow milk forms an essential
component of panchamrit, the five elixir. Hence, people show their gratitude to
cows garlanding them with flowers and feeding them with best grass and foods.
Houses are also cleaned and painted. The Doors and windows are decorated with
marigold garlands.In the evening, we worship Laxmi, the goddess of wealth and
prosperity. Doorways and windows are illuminated with diyo (oil lamps on
ceramics) or candles. Nowadays, the whole house is brightly illuminated with
electric lights. At night girls enjoy dancing and singing by visiting the
houses in the neighborhood. This is called Bhailo, whereby the house-owner has
to offer money and food to the children playing Bhailo.
Day 4: On the 4th day of Tihar, cow dung is moulded to form a small mountain representative of Govardan mountain and is then worshipped. On this day, the oxen are also worshipped. Perhaps, this is the only day in a year when the most neglected creature is worshipped and fed with good food.Newar community observes this day as Mha Puja or worship of the self.This is the beginning of new Nepal Sambat. At night boys gather around to play deusi in the neighborhood similar to Bhailo. It is believed that Baliraja or Mahabali who is the greatest alms-giver had ordered to go to sing Deusi- Bhailo.
Day 5:The fifth of last day is Bhaitika when sibling sisters
apply Tika to the foreheads of their brothers praying for longevity. Mythology
has it that Yamaraj, the god of death visited Yamuna (his sister)'s house for
Tika. So, Hindu devotees follow Yamaraj by going to their sister's house one of
five days of Yamapanchak for a longer life or immortality. The garlands that
the sisters will be giving to the brothers are made up of Makhamali or
Gomphrena globosa flowers that never wilts. In this way, sisters circle around
brothers by pouring Jal or water thrice, apply oil to hair and offer
seven-colored Tika and many delicious foods. In return, brothers give them
gifts and money.
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