{"id":3888,"date":"2016-06-06T09:59:07","date_gmt":"2016-06-06T09:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/?p=3888"},"modified":"2025-01-21T09:13:41","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T09:13:41","slug":"kukur-tihar-the-nepalese-festival-dedicated-to-best-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/events\/kukur-tihar-the-nepalese-festival-dedicated-to-best-friends.html","title":{"rendered":"Kukur Tihar – The Nepalese festival dedicated to best friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dog-lovers around the world consider their furry-faced, four-legged friends to be the best people. But in Nepal<\/a>, they take things quite a few steps further by recognising the contribution dogs make to our lives in a beautiful festival known as Tihar.<\/p>\n

\"nepal-dog-festival-01\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Celebrated by millions each year, Diwali is one of the great celebrations in the Hindu calendar. This five-day autumn festival is generally known as the Festival of Lights. Diwali is a period of gift-giving, storytelling, and recognition of the relationships humans have with all things, with each of the five days having its own focus. In Nepal, Diwali is called Tihar. Similar to other Diwali observances, lamps are lit at night during Tihar. The festival of lights celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of knowledge over ignorance, and the dissolution of barriers that separate humans from authentic experiences of the world. Nepalese Hinduism is unique whereby several of the days are dedicated to honouring animals including cows, crows and dogs. The festival is a way for Hindus in the region to remember the interconnectedness of all beings, especially the close relationship that humans have with their animal friends.<\/p>\n

The second day of Tihar, called Kukur Tihar, is dedicated to the worship of dogs. Many Nepalese Hindus believe dogs are the messengers of Yamaraj (or Yama), the just judge who presides over the resting place of the dead. The god\u2019s two four-eyed dogs, Shyam and Sadal, are said to guard the gates to his kingdom.<\/p>\n

Pets and street dogs alike are blessed and pampered throughout the day. People drape floral garlands around the necks of every dog, rub their forehead with tika and provide them with delicious food to acknowledge the cherished relationship between humans and dogs. The tika is a red mark applied to the forehead of each dog. In Nepal, the tika is made from a paste using abir \u2014 a red dye powder \u2014 along with rice and yogurt. The tika is applied in a single stroke on the forehead upward from the eyes. Like the malla, the flower garlands that sit around the dog\u2019s neck, the red tika marks the dog as both a devotee of the righteous path and as an object of devotion. The tika imbues the dog with an air of sacredness and acts as a blessing to those who encounter the dog during Kukur Tihar.<\/p>\n

\"nepal-dog-02\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The food offerings provided to the dogs take a variety of forms. Depending on the celebrant, the dog\u2019s treats may include milk, eggs, meat, or high-quality dog food. Some may even offer dogs a bit of sel roti, a deep-fried confection similar to a donut. This is a day when dogs have the best of everything.<\/p>\n

Animal rights organisations, like Animal Nepal, use Kukur Tihar to spread awareness for the need to care for stray dogs, like the many who became homeless after a devastating earthquake hit the country in 2015.<\/p>\n

We can all follow the example of the Nepalese and celebrate Kukur Tihar to recognise, honour and worship our animal friends.<\/p>\n

How will you honour your dog for Kukur Tihar this year?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dog-lovers around the world consider their furry-faced, four-legged friends to be the best people. But in Nepal, they take things quite a few steps further by recognising the contribution dogs make to our lives in a beautiful festival known as Tihar. Celebrated by millions each year, Diwali is one of the great celebrations in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3894,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[28],"tags":[77],"yoast_head":"\nThe Nepalese festival dedicated to best friends<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.secret-retreats.com\/blog\/events\/kukur-tihar-the-nepalese-festival-dedicated-to-best-friends.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kukur Tihar \u2013 The Nepalese festival dedicated to best friends\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dog-lovers around the world consider their furry-faced, four-legged friends to be the best people. 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