Tihar

          Tihar is a festival celebrated by mainly hindus. It is also known as deepavali in India. It is mainly celebrated for five days of Mid-november of every year. It's also known as festival of lights. It's celebrated to worship Goddess Laxmi ( godess of wealth ) and animals like crow, dog, cow, etc. It's a very enjoyable festival to create bonds and re-fresh.

          This festival symbolises the victory of good deeds over the evil deeds. As beliefs, the festival is celebrated to remark  Lord Rama ( King of Ayodhya ) defeating the ill mannered King Rawana. The people of the kingdom Ayodhya then lit up all the places in the kingdom with earthen lamps and made beautiful patterns of colours to celebrate victory. Like the grand welcoming done by the then citizens, we as well celebrate it in a similar way in the modern days. We still make rangolis (colourful patterns),  lit up houses with decorative lights. We also use flower garlands, fireworks, diya and other home decors.

The first day of Tihar-

It's known as kaag tihar. It is the day when we worship crows.

The second day of Tihar-

It's known as kukur tihar. It is the day when we worship dogs.

The third day of Tihar-

It's known as Laxmi puja. This day we we worship Goddess Laxmi and cows. We also make rangolis (colorful patterns) on the ground. Some people like to form groups and perform dances known as dheusi bhailo( performed by men ) and  bhailini(performed by women) at evening time at someone else's place. 

The fourth day of Tihar- 

The fourth day is known as goverdhan puja. It is the day when we worship bulls.

The fifth day of Tihar-

The fifth day is also the last day of Tihar. It is known as Bhai tika. This day siblings or cousins exchange blessings and gifts. They also put multicoloured tika which symbolises love, health and wealth. 

          Even after hundreds of years we still celebrate the victory of Lord Rama. We all still celebrate the festival to keep light within our society and darkness away from us. Tihar has it's own significance in the society as it not only focuses on the Victory of good over evil. It also shows us the importance of animals like: dog, crow, bull, etc. in our life. It helps in socialisation and bonding with friends and families. It is also a great way to clear our minds from our monotonous life.

          Tihar is my favourite festival among all. I really like making rangolis and performing at other places. It is very fun to go around with my friends and families performing, it is cheerful to pass blessings and gifts. The food and fun really makes me happy.