Tihar (festival) - Gai Tihar and Laxmi Puja

Gai Tihar and Laxmi Puja

The morning of third day is Gai Tihar (worship of the cow). In Hinduism, the cow is sign of prosperity and wealth. In ancient times people benefitted a lot from the cow. Its milk, dung even urine was used for different purposes like purification. Thus on this day people show their gratefulness to the cow by garlanding and feeding the cow with the best grass. Houses are cleaned and the doorways and windows are decorated with garlands made of marigolds and chrysanthemums.

In the evening Laxmi, the goddess of wealth is thanked for all the benefits that were bestowed on the families by lighting oil lamps or candles on doorways and windows to welcome prosperity and well being. At night the girls enjoy dancing and visiting all the houses of the village with many musical instruments playing a historical game called Bhailo all night long. They collect money from all the houses by singing and dancing and share the sweets and money amongst themselves.

From the third day onwards Tihar is especially famous for Deusi and Bhailo, light and fireworks. Deusi and Bhailo are the songs which have only been sung on those Tihar days. The Deusi is mostly sung by the boys while the Bhailo is sung by the girls. Social workers, young and children visit local homes to sing these songs, and in return the home owners give them money, fruit, rice and Selroti (a special type of Nepali bread made by rice flour and sugar).