Dipawali is also known as Tihar. It’s a five-day Hindu festival celebrated in Nepal and most parts in India. It is the festival of lights. Diyas are lit inside and outside the houses to illuminate the nights. During this festival, people decorate their houses with lights, they get together and sing, dance and play various traditional games. This festival worships the Goddess Laxmi: God of Wealth. During this festival, people also celebrate and appreciate animals such as dogs and cows. To symbolize the and appreciate the animals, they are adorned with flowers, tikkas (a red mark applied to their forehead) and offered food after ceremonial rituals.

This year, the five-day Nepalese Hindu festival of Tihar started in the last week of October. The second day of the festival was Kukur Tihar or “day of the dogs”. It was celebrated on Sunday. On this day, dogs are worshipped, fed and honoured as protectors of the house. Dogs are considered the most loyal friend to human beings, and according to Hindu mythology and they are regarded as the guards of Yama, the god of death.

Nepal Army, Army Police Force, Nepal Police and Canine related organizations organize special programs on the “Kukur Tihar”. The Green Lion Nepal team joined the “Kathmandu Animal Treatment Center” (KAT) to celebrate this day. This is where we conduct our Canine Rehabilitation Program. On this day, our participants who are also “Dog Lovers” were invited for the Puja and Ceremony of the Kukur Tihar. Among the dogs in the center, some are under treatment and some are getting better after the treatments and operations. It was inspiring to see street dogs being well-treated and cared and they are living in a healthy environment while getting used to a new life.

The program started as the Chairperson of Kathmandu Animal Treatment Center Mrs Sharma gave thanks to everyone who contributed to this organization to make their efforts a success. Kukur Tihar rituals started with an elderly dog who was also paralyzed. The dogs were worshipped with Flowers, Food, and put Tikas on their foreheads while they were looking at us with strange eyes. Participants joined the rituals of worshipping. After the ceremony, everyone got the chance to play with the dogs and spend some fun time together. Our Green Lion participants were delighted to be a part of this special day of the dogs and stated it was a once in a lifetime experience for them.

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