“When is Navin (my brother) coming home from Kathmandu?” I asked

“He comes home this Thursday for Tihar.”  My mom replied

“Ok”  I said

“You are going to give him Tikka, OK?” 

“Ok”  I replied.  

Earlier that week our group of Peace Corps volunteers had stayed in Kathmandu 3 days and I was looking forward to coming home and celebrating Tihar with my family.  I prepared for the festival by buying some small gifts and was wondering when the appropriate time would be to offer them.  Like many instances when I am not exactly sure how things will go, I waited to observe what my family would do and decided to follow their lead.  

Tihar is celebrated over 5 days.  The first day is dedicated to worshiping the crow.  The crow is believed to bring people news and because people want it to bring them good news, they offer food to crows on that day.  The second day is dog tikka.  Dogs are believed to be guardians of the underworld, so people show their respect and honor for dogs on that day.  The third day is cow tikka and in the evening Lakshmi puja.  My family doesn’t own a cow, but my friend’s family does and she said that the ceremony involved applying tikka (the red sticky rice) to the cow’s forehead, giving it a necklace of flowers, and sprinkling more rice and flowers on it’s head.  Apparently, its favorite part was the sweet bread it got at the end.  

The evening of the third day was one of my favorite events.  On that night we went around and decorated the house with chains of marigold flowers that we had been making.  Then we lit an altar dedicated to the goddess Lakshmi.  The goddess Lakshmi is believed to bring good fortune, wealth and prosperity to the people in the night and so we lit the path that she takes from the altar to the beds in the house.  The path is first marked with mud, then colored footprints are made that resemble her steps into the house.  Finally, candles are lit and placed along the path.  The windows of the house are left open that night and candles are placed in the windows.  Nepal normally has a policy of scheduled power outages and every day the power goes out for a period of time.  However, during Tihar the power stays on until 9pm so that people can light their lights and invite Lakshmi into the house.

The next day involved lots of cooking and preparation.  We prepared large amounts of sweet flatbread that were distributed around the village.  It was a long process and fun to observe.  In many ways it reminded me of making Christmas cookies.  

On the final day of Tihar, brother’s are honored during bhai Tikka.  The symbolism of the brother Tikka ceremony is reflected in a story about a girl who saved her brother’s life with her love and dedication.  Her brother had fallen ill and was going to be taken by the spirit of the underworld.  She pleaded with the god to spare his life.  The god agreed that he would spare her brother’s life if she took care of him, kept the flowers and plants by his bed fresh and kept the oil on him wet.  She agreed and for a whole year did just that.  The god visited throughout the year and observed her obedience.  At the end of the year, the god was so impressed by her love and devotion that he spared her brother’s life.  It is that love that is celebrated on the final day of Tihar.

  By the last day, my brother was home from Kathmandu and my father’s two older sisters were staying at the house.  At 11am we gathered in the house and I was told to not leave the house until after the ceremony was done.  The door was left open, but no one was allowed to come or go from the house for about an hour while we did bother Tikka.  This Tikka ceremony was different from the one we did for the last festival Dashain.  The Tikka is a series of colors applied to the forehead, with a white circle around it.  It started with my aunt and sisters circling my dad and brother while sprinkling water, then rice water, then oil.  Next, they had oil applied to their heads.  After the oil, my sisters and I placed a row of colors on the forehead of our brother, then had the colors placed on our foreheads.  Finally, we offered gifts of fruit and sweets.  

Overall, Tihar reminded me a lot of Christmas because it involves:

-preparing for the coming of an etherial, gift bearing being in the night by setting out food and lighting lights.

-Decorating the house with colored lights and seasonal flowers.  

-Visiting neighbor’s houses and singing songs.

-Having relatives stay at your house

-Cooking and eating large amounts of sweets

-Giving gifts to family members

Although Tihar is a major festival, it had a more intimate, cozy feeling than the last one.  The house smelled of sweet breads and the colorful lights around the house reminded me of the holidays back home.  I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to my last 2 weeks here.  

Stay tuned because in 2 weeks I will move to the far west district of Nepal.  My house will be a 3 day trip from Kathmandu and 60km from the main road.  I look forward to this adventure as it will be the most remote type of living I have ever done.  Into the future, one step at a time.