Nepali markets abuzz with arrival of Tihar festival

The Ason Bazar, one of the oldest markets of Kathmandu, is all decked up for Tihar. The roads are flooded with hawkers selling a variety of good for the festival of lights and decorations.

The five-day Nepali festival of Tihar shares some traditions with Diwali.

Amongst the goods on sale in landlocked Nepal, people usually buy spices for brothers to offer them on Bhaitika along with the gifts such as "Dhaka Topi" and other cloth items as well as the materials needed for puja.

"The market is buzzing with people with the arrival of Tihar. Flowers, tikas and other items are in high demand these days," Ram Karki, one of the shopkeepers told ANI.

The shops are also are adorned with decorative and light materials. People flowing into the market these days are seen buying the items targeting the Bhaitika.

"For Bhaitika, I bought sweets, spices, colours, beetle-nut, garlands of flowers," Bidhya Dahal, one of the shoppers who came onto the market for Tihar's shopping, told ANI.

The first day of Tihar is marked with the worship of crow, the messenger of Yama, the God of Death. The second day is for worshipping dogs and the third day is for Laxmi pooja or Dhantaresh when people light up their houses and worship Goddess Laxmi and seek her blessings.

The fourth day of Tihar is marked as Gobardhan pooja when people worship ox used to plough.

The final day of Tihar, Bhaitika is celebrated with much fervor when sisters put seven coloured tika on the forehead of their brothers praying for their success and long life.

Sisters also offer a variety of sweets, cuisines and other items along with gifts to their brothers. While the brothers also give gifts and money to their sisters as per their capacity.