The first day of the festival is Kag Tihar or Crows Day. Crows are offered food on a plate made of leaves. We didn't actually see this happen as it is done in early morning.
The second day of the festival is the day to honor dogs or Kukur Tihar. Dogs are given a small ceremony where they get tikas, malas, and some food. The rest of the day you can see dogs running the street with their red heads and necklaces of marigolds. The video below shows a bit of the ceremony.
Dog day from Wendy Marshall on Vimeo.
The third day is Laxmi Puja or the day to honor cows. I didn't see this ceremony performed but did see lots of cows with marigolds around their necks and circles of some sort of powder on their bodies. The evening of this day is Laxmi Puja when the goddess Laxmi is worshipped. This is when the oil lamps and candles are lit. Families also make a circle out of mud in front of their house and place on oil lamp on it. A mud path is made from the circle into the house to a place where the family keeps their money. The evening in Pokara was also the time of the street dancing. There were dance groups that would set up with speakers and kids would dance the traditional dances. Each show would go on for a long time and then there would be another not far up the street. You can watch some dancing in the video below.
Dancing in Pokara from Wendy Marshall on Vimeo.
The fourth day is different depending on which area of Nepal you are from. What we saw was more oil lamps and more dancing which we enjoyed throughly.
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| Everything is ready |
The last day is Bhai Tika day or the day to honor brothers. We were invited to the house of a school principal, Tol Prasat, who helps my mother with the Women's Literacy Program. We arrived at 11:00 and waited while the family prepared for the ceremony. We sat outside on a mat and the ceremony began with the women walking around with some marigolds while dripping water through the flowers and walking three times around everyone. Then it was time to place the tikas on. Alhough this is the day to honor the brothers, we were also given tikas as we were special guests. Banana leaves were cut and used as a stencil to give the shape of the tika. The leaves are placed on the forehead and a flour type paste applied. The different coloured powders were then applied. Once the tika was in place a marigold mala was placed around our necks. Of course, then it was time for food, lots of food. The first plate contained sweets and fruits and some hard fried noodles. Then came the dal bhat. I was stuffed. It was a great day through and I am so happy to have experienced this ceremony with Tol and his family.
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| Dripping water through Marigolds |
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| Applying the Tika through the banana leaf |
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| Sitting on the mat before we ate |
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| Ali with her tika and marigold malas |
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Our plate of food |
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