Tihar - fire festival in Nepal

Tihar is one of the main festivals of the year in Nepal. It is also called the Festival of Lights and Nepalese New Year. Tihar takes place simultaneously with the pan-Hindu holiday Diwali (Deepavali) and is essentially its expanded and localized version. Among the Newar tribe (conditionally the indigenous population of the Kathmandu Valley), the same holiday is known as Swanti. But the essence of the holiday is, of course, not in its names, but in its cheerful character. Everyone sings and dances, sets off fireworks and burns lamps, decorates everything with flower garlands - from shops to pets.

In the fall of 2014, returning from trekking to Annapurna Base Camp, we found ourselves in Kathmandu just in the midst of the Tihar holiday. This festival lasts for 5 days. On the first day (Kag Puja), Nepalese cajole (feed sweets) ordinary crows - in Hinduism this is the bird of sadness and death. On the second day (Kukur Tihar), domestic dogs are fed deliciously and decorated with flowers - they must be appeased since they, too, are messengers of death.

This stage of the holiday found us on the way from Pokhara to Kathmandu, when we still knew nothing about the upcoming celebrations, and the dogs hung with black brats were perceived by us as just another prank of Nepalese children.

Returning to the capital, we found ourselves in the midst of the festival. At the beginning of the third day (Gai Tihar) cows are worshiped, but in the evening the real revelry begins. By this time, all the streets are already decorated with lanterns, and the owners make rangoli in front of each house.

Rangoli is a complex geometric or “floral” design (very similar to Buddhist mandalas), which is made with powder paints, colored sand or rice directly on the ground in front of the entrance to the home.

In addition to the design, the composition usually includes fruits, fragrant sticks of smoking incense and, of course, numerous bowls and lamps (diya) with burning oil (ghee).

After all, Tihar is a festival of lights, symbolizing the victory of light over darkness, good over evil. It is not for nothing that the date of the holiday (usually the end of October) is determined according to the lunar calendar and is set for the darkest night - the night of the new moon, after which a turning point occurs and light begins to crowd out the darkness.

In the evening the city does not empty, but rather fills with people. Crowds of caroling children rush through the streets. They enter every home, every store and sing holiday songs. Girls have their own song (called Bhailo), and boys have their own (Deusire). In response, the owners treat them to sweets and give them some money (standard fee is 5 rupees).

According to Hindu mythology, this custom originated from the legendary King Bali, who, having met the wandering dwarf Vamana (in fact, it was Vishnu himself), offered him any gift of his choice. The dwarf asked for some land (exactly three steps) and when the king agreed, Vamanu was transformed and covered the entire Universe with his first two steps and there was nowhere to step for the third time. Then the king suggested taking a step on his head. For such generosity, the king was promised the position of ruler of the universe. True, not now, but in the distant future, after several thousand years of waiting at the cleansing fire (note - there is fire here too).

Adults are also having a lot of fun, singing and dancing. Fireworks are going off everywhere as Nepali New Year celebrations are in full swing. We, although pale-faced foreigners, also became infected with the atmosphere of the general holiday and, slightly dancing, began to wander through the streets of the evening Kathmandu.

On the fourth day (theoretically dedicated to the worship of oxen), the festival continued to seethe in a very Latin American carnival style. A caravan of pickup trucks with improvised orchestras and dance floors slowly crawled through the narrow and winding streets of Thamel, blocking traffic to death.

The young people, well warmed up with rakshi (Nepalese moonshine), danced at full speed and waved flags. Even navigating the streets on foot (we were looking for souvenirs) was not easy, but it was terribly interesting and fun. Nepalese, even when tipsy, remain nice guys and behave decently.

We missed the last fifth day of the festival (Bhai Tika), as we flew home. On this day, brothers and sisters draw a special five-color tika (dot) on each other's foreheads and pray for long life and prosperity. Behind this custom there is also a certain legend about a sister who saved her brother from the messenger of death by cunning.