In the Tihar Festival, which is celebrated in Nepal between the end of October and the beginning of November and lasts for five days, animals, lights and ties take center stage. This holiday is also known as the Nepali version of Diwali Each day honors a different being: Crows, dogs, cows, brothers and sisters. On the second day, which this year falls on Monday, October 20, dedicated to Kukur Tihar, dogs are blessed with wreaths, colorful marks on their foreheads, and food offerings. Beyond this gesture, this ritual symbolizes gratitude towards the animals that share human life, and has its roots in ancient mythology where dogs occupy… A sacred place in Hindu cosmology.
The story behind this devotion goes back to the story of the epic Mahabharata, where the hero is Yudhishthira He refuses to enter heaven without his dog by his sideWhile the same dog turns out to be the incarnation of Yama, the god of death. In contemporary Nepal, this mythological background is carried over to the squares of Kathmandu, where residents celebrate that dogs not only take care of the home but can, symbolically, accompany souls to the afterlife.
However, these rituals of reverence coexist with real tensions in daily life, such as fear of rabies, overcrowding of street dogs and cases of abuse that remind us that, after the flower feast, the daily situation of many Nepalese dogs remains fragile.
Why dogs?
During the day dedicated to dogs, which includes legally owned boarding dogs and stray dogs, rituals take place in an emotional and symbolic way. Families wake up early and decorate their dogs’ bodies with them “tilaka”– A mixture of red powder, milk and rice, and wreaths of marigold flowers are placed (Tagetes erect) around their necks. They are offered a special food of meat, milk, and eggs, and are treated as if they were honored guests of homes and the city, with ritual baths, foot cleaning, and a bow that is sometimes expressed with the forehead resting on a dog’s paw, as a sign of respect.
The reason for this recognition is found in the Nepali Hindu tradition which assigns a role to the dog Guardian of Death and the UnderworldThey are considered messengers of Yama and guardians of the gates of the afterlife. According to priest Gokarna Khanal, speaking to The Times, “We celebrate Kukur Tihar to please Yama,” indicating that dog worship favors the safe passage of the soul once the body dies.
At the institutional level, the Nepalese Police Forces also participate in the rituals, and the police dog unit also participated during the festival with a parade where wreaths were bestowed on the dogs in appreciation for their work in the field of rescue and security.
Dogs in Nepal: reality, challenges and rituals
There is a duality between the rituals of glorification of the day and the daily life of dogs in Nepal. It is estimated that there are more than 19,000 stray dogs in KathmanduAbout 90% of which have been vaccinated against rabies, and about ten thousand of them will be sterilized throughout the year. But rabies still poses a real threat in this region between India and Tibet, where the number of deaths annually is estimated at more than 100 as a result of stray dog bites, which puts pressure on the authorities to control the number of dogs in urban areas.
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