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The most important day of Tihar, the five-day festival of lights, is being observed today. Sisters throughout the country offer tika to their brothers wishing them happiness, long life and prosperity on the occasion of Bhai Tika.

The auspicious hour for offering the tika is 11:37 am for this year's Bhai Tika. However, it can take place until sunset, says Chairperson of National Calendar Determination Committee, Prof Shree Krishna Adhikari.

On this day, brothers are seated at a specially anointed place around which a trail of mustard oil is drawn. The sisters then offer the brothers tika and garlands of 'dubo' and 'makhamali'.         After placing colorful tika on the foreheads of their brothers, sisters offer them a treat consisting of varieties of sweets, walnut, spices and 'Sel', a special kind of bread cooked in oil.

Brothers also offer their sisters tika in return, wishing them happiness and good luck, and give them presents.

The occasion commemorates a legendary event in which a sister has won a boon from "Yama", the deity of death that her brother would not die until the mustard oil is dried up and the garland of 'dubo' and 'makhamali' faded.

The Bhai Tika tradition is so strong in Nepali society that even those who have no brothers or sisters of their own receive tika from others whom they regard as brothers and sisters.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said the government would forward the process to include Nepal Bhasa in school-level curriculum.

After garlanding the statue of the founder of Nepal Sambat and national luminary Shankhadhar Sakhwa at Sankhadhar Sakhwa chowk, Madhyapur Thimi, today, Prime Minister Oli underlined that he personally and from the position of Prime Minister was ready to protect language, culture and civilization.

At a programme organized by Shankhadhar Sakhwa Foundation, he mentioned that some genuine demands of the Foundation would be fulfilled gradually as per the capacity of the state. 

"The Foundation has demanded to include Nepal Bhasa as the secondary level optional subject in curriculum. It can be included in the curriculum as optional subjects like Maithili, Bhojpuri but it cannot be announced here today without making any decision", added PM Oli.

The Prime Minister shared that different initiatives are underway from government-level to protect Nepal Bhasa, stating that Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS), Nepal Television and Radio Nepal have started disseminating and broadcasting news in Nepal Bhasa in this connection.

Saying Bhaktapur is considered as the living museum, he said the government was committed to preserving the historical arts and culture here. 

Similarly, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Badri Prasad Pandey, mentioned that Shankhadhar Sakhwa had given identity of patriotism and nationalism even at that time. 

Likewise, Mayor of Madhyapur Thimi Surendra Shrestha shared that the municipality is organizing Madhyapur festival in the Nepali month of Poush in order to spread historical arts, culture and tradition of the district in the world.

On the occasion, PM Oli honored 63-year-old organization, Nhyajya Khala Thimi and leader of Nepal Sambat and member of Language Commission, Suresh Kiram Manandhar, with Shankhadhar Samman.

The flower fields of Nepal's Gundu village glimmer yellow, orange and purple as women harvest blooms, a flourishing industry changing tough village lives by providing garlands for Hindu festivals.

Nestled on the rim of Kathmandu Valley, Gundu is renowned for supplying the brightly-coloured globe amaranth and marigold flowers, with demand surging for this week's Tihar celebrations, also known as Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

At dawn, the village women gather in the fields to harvest the blooms that will, by the day's end, be woven into garlands to adorn homes and temples.

The women of Gundu have turned this seasonal bloom into a thriving industry, despite a labor-intensive process of picking and weaving them into garlands.

"This has provided more jobs for women of our village," said flower farmer Saraswoti Bista, 56.

"We don't have to leave home, and by weaving garlands, we earn a good income," she added.

Nepal, a majority-Hindu Himalayan nation, has a GDP per capita of $1,324, according to the World Bank.

The flourishing trade has transformed Gundu into a model for flower production, with nearly 500 households supplying over one million garlands every year, generating over $133,000, according to the local village authority.

As the festival peaks, garlands spill from rooftops and porches, filling the village with vibrant purple, red, and orange, a floral hub in Nepal.

The dramatic deep purple-coloured globe amaranth, known in Nepal as makhmali, is in special demand during the five-day festival of Tihar.

The dried blooms can last for months -- or even years -- with proper care.

The garlands are given by sisters to their brothers on the fifth day of Tihar, as a symbolic offering wishing for their long life.

Nepal produced an estimated 2.5 million garlands of globe amaranth flowers in 2024, a 10 percent increase since last year, according to the Floriculture Association Nepal.

"It also supplies to different countries," said flower association representative Dilip Bade.

The country is set to export 200,000 garlands, valued at $1.4 million, to the United States, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and Europe, according to the floriculture association.

But while the flower industry is blossoming, heavy flooding worsened by climate change hit the floriculture sector hard, resulting in estimated losses of over $1.1 million. AFP

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has extended warm wishes to all Nepali sisters and brothers, both at home and abroad, on the occasion of Laxmi Puja, a significant day dedicated to the worship of the Hindu goddess Laxmi during the Tihar festival

In a social media post, the PM stated, "May this day illuminate every home and bring happiness to each family." The Prime Minister said the festival symbolizes the brightness of lights, the fragrance of flowers, and the deep bond between humans and animals, highlighting the importance of sibling love.

Presently there is a partial influence of the westerly wind as well as the local wind in the hilly regions across the country, the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said.

The weather will remain partly to generally cloudy in the hilly regions of Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces and fair in remaining parts of the country.

According to the Meteorological Forecasting Division, the weather will be partly to generally cloudy in the hilly regions of Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces and fair in the rest of the country this afternoon.

There are chances of light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning at a few places of the hilly regions of Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces and at one or two places of the hilly regions of the rest of the provinces.

Light snowfall is likely to occur at some places of the high hilly and mountainous regions of Koshi and Gandaki Provinces.

Similarly, the weather will be partly to generally cloudy in the hilly regions of Bagmati province and Gandaki Province tonight.

Light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning is predicted to occur at one or two places of the hilly regions of Bagmati and Gandaki provinces.

Light snowfall is likely to occur at some places of the high hilly and mountainous regions of Koshi, Bagmati and Gandaki Provinces.

Nepali Congress (NC) President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said the festivals have further strengthened the social unity.

In a message delivered on the occasion of Tihar and Nepal Sambat 1145, he extended best wishes to all Nepali people for their peace, progress, happiness and longevity. He said that festivals have helped strengthen cordial and harmonious relations.

President Deuba further noted Nepal has different castes, ethnicities, languages, religions, festivals and cultures and this has established unique unity in the diversity to promote fraternity among us.

"Tihar has also consolidated our unity. Every day of Yamapanchak has helped create new enthusiasm among all Nepalis, develop cordial relations between sisters and brothers and relatives", reads his message.

Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav said the festivals including Tihar would contribute to keep the country's economy moving.

In his message on the occasion of Tihar festival, 2081 BS today, Vice President Yadav extended his best wishes to all Nepali sisters and brothers at home and abroad for their happiness, peace, prosperity, good health and progress and also called for all to remain aware of negative impact of bursting firecrackers for celebrations in the environment.

He expressed the belief that the festival would strengthen the spirit of social harmony, fraternity and national and community unity. "Tihar is an important festival from the religious, cultural and social perspectives. It is not only a festival but also an integral part of Nepali culture and tradition", the message reads.

Vice President Yadav said that Tihar is also a message of unity in diversity, which includes various customs, lifestyles, traditions and rituals.

"Although there is diversity in our traditions and rituals celebrated, the thrust is to impart the message of knowledge over ignorance and victory of light over darkness, largely to consolidate unity and harmony in the country", Yadav noted in his message.

Laxmi, the Goddess of wealth, is being worshiped in every household today to mark the second day of the five-day Tihar festival –also known as the festival of lights – by lighting butter lamps and candles inside and outside of the households to light up the path of Goddess Laxmi in order to welcome her.

Nepali Hindus worship Goddess Laxmi in the evening today wishing for prosperity.

All the nooks and corners of the house are illuminated with colorful and decorative lights this evening in the belief that Goddess Laxmi does not visit places that are not properly illuminated, and so to please Goddess Laxmi, people light lamps and spend the whole night in vigil.

The night of Laxmi Puja is also a start of the cultural programs like ‘Deusi’ and ‘Bhailo’, where people, said to be sent by the king Bali, visit different homes singing and dancing for prosperity. In Kukur Tihar, dogs are worshiped as protectors of the house.

A dog is the most loyal friend to human beings, and according to Hindu myth, dogs are regarded as the guards of Yama, the god of death.