Tihar (festival)
| Tihar | |
|---|---|
Night view of the Kathmandu city during the festival (2009) | |
| Also called | Bhai Tika, Deepawali, Yamapanchak |
| Type | spiritual |
| Significance | Honors animals, goddess Lakshmi, god Yama, and the bond between brothers and sisters. |
| Celebrations | Decorating homes with additional lights and colorful flowers, gathering, worshipping, singing and dancing (Deusi Bhailo), gambling, feasts |
| Observances | Prayers and religious rituals |
| Begins | Kārtika māsa kṛṣṇa pakṣa trayodashi tithi |
| Ends | Kārtika māsa śukla pakṣa dwitiya tithi |
| 2025 date | 19 October Saturday, to 23 October, Thursday |
| Duration | 5 days |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Related to | Diwali, Diwali (Jainism), Bandi Chhor Divas, Swanti, Sohrai, Bandna |
Tihar is a five-day Hindu festival of lights celebrated in Nepal and parts of India (Sikkim, Darjeeling and Assam), by the Nepali and Indian Gorkha people. The festival coincides and shares similarities with Diwali, the festival of lights celebrated across the India subcontinent and elsewhere, but also has some distinct features.
Tihar is referred to as Yamapanchak Tihar in Kathmandu Valley by Newari Nepalis and Dipawali Tihar in Madhesh Province by Madhesi Nepalis. In the rest of Nepal and the Indian states of Sikkim and Gorkhaland, both Nepalis and Nepalese descended in India refer to Diwali as the Tihar Parwa.
Like Diwali, it is marked by lighting diyo inside and outside the home, but unlike Diwali in other parts of India, the five days of Tihar include celebration and worship of the four animals associated with the God of death Yama (crow, dog, cow and oxen), with the final day reserved for people themselves. According to the Vikram Samvat calendar, the festival begins with Kaag (crow) Tihar on Trayodashi tithi of Kārtika kṛṣṇa pakṣa (the 13th day of the waning moon) and ends with Bhai Tika on Dwitiya tithi of Kārtika śukla pakṣa every year. In the Gregorian calendar, the festival falls sometime between October and November every year.