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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.

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.