Tihar

This past week has been the festival of Tihar, the second most important holiday after Dashain. Tihar is a five day festival that started on Monday.

Each day of the holiday is dedicated to a different animal. Monday was Kaag Pooja (crow day) where people gave pooja (offerings) to the crows of Kathmandu, placing plates of rice and sweets for them. The next day was Kukur Pooja (dog day). People honor their own pets and also invite the stray dogs of Kathmandu (of which there are many) into their homes. Dogs are given malas (garlands of flowers) and tikas (a mark on the forehead signifying sacredness) and are offered all sorts of treats. Wednesday was Gai Pooja (cow day) where cows are celebrated. This day is also Lakshmi Pooja, where the goddess Lakshmi is honored. Thursday was Goru Pooja (bull day) where the male bovines get some love.

The final animal celebrated was on Friday, which is Bhai Tika (younger brother day). On this day brothers are honored by their older sisters (who sometimes probably consider them animals). In Nepal the brother/sister relationship is broadened to include first cousins. I took time off starting on Lakshmi Pooja to celebrate the holiday with my family. I am pretty young in my family so I had six older sisters give me blessings. During Bhai Tika gifts are also exchanged.

Another pretty cool part of the festival is Lakshmi Pooja. On this day people make beautiful circular patterns (rangoli) out of colored sand in front of their houses. People also light candles and oil lamps and drape lights over their homes (this part of the festival is also called Diwali). They leave their doors open and draw paths out of red clay from the rangoli to the inside of their houses in order to invite Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, into their homes. Young people take this opportunity to go from house to house playing music and singing and dancing, for which they receive sweets and money. This is also the festival of fireworks!

The nights are lit up during Tihar

It's a good time to be a dog in Kathmandu

Gai Pooja, honoring cows