Tihar, a Hindu festival is also known as the “Festival of Light” or Deepawali. All the houses and even the street corners are illuminated by colorful lights and bulbs. Tihar, a celebration of lights and color dedicated to Goddess Laxmi, also reveals social joy all over the country. This festival is celebrated for 5 days at the end of October or at the beginning of November. Lights and colored decorations are used to decorate homes over a three to five-day period. The five days are called Yama-Panchaka because the whole period is dedicated to the worship of Yama (Yamaraj) the God of Death.
Tihar festival begins with the worship of a crow and completes with Bhai Tika (worshipping brothers). The first day of this festival also called Kaag Tihar is the day of the crow. Crow is believed to be the messenger of Yama. The second day of Tihar called “Kukur Tihar) day of the dog. The dog is worshipped according to the religious ritual. Tika is the mark of blessing on dogs’ foreheads on the creature along with garlands and feeding them different varieties of foods. The holy cow is worshipped on the morning of the third day. On the fourth day of Govardhan Puja was performed to honor Krishna’s lifting the mountain Govardhan to protect his people from terrible rain and floods. The festival concludes Bhai Tika, the last day of Tihar is the day when sisters make offerings to their brothers. The ritual of breaking wall-nuts, putting on garlands of makhani flowers, and encircling brothers in rings of mustard oil protect them from Yama.
