Tihar (festival)

Tihar
Night view of the Kathmandu city during the festival (2009)
Also called	Bhai Tika, Deepawali, Yamapanchak
Type	Religious
Celebrations	Decorating homes with lights, gathering, worshipping, singing and dancing (Deusi Bhailo), gambling, feasts
Observances	Prayers and religious rituals
Begins	Kārtika māsa kṛṣṇa pakṣa trayodashi tithi
Ends	Kārtika māsa śukla pakṣa dwitiya tithi
2023 date	11th November, Saturday to 15th November, Wednesday
Frequency	Annual
Related to	Diwali, Diwali (Jainism), Bandi Chhor Divas, Swanti, Sohrai, Bandna

Tihar (also known as Deepawali and Yamapanchak) is a five-day Hindu festival of Diwali celebrated in Nepal and the Indian regions of Sikkim and Gorkhaland (particularly the towns of Darjeeling and Kalimpong), which host a large number of ethnic Indian Gorkhas

Diwali is referred to as Tihar in Nepal, Sikkim and Gorkhaland and is marked by lighting diyo inside and outside the home but unlike Diwali in other parts of India, the five days of Tihar include celebration and worship of the four creatures associated with the Hindu god of death Yama, with the final day reserved for people themselves.^[1] According to the Vikram Samvat calendar, the festival begins with Kaag (crow) Tihar on Trayodashi tithi of Kārtika kṛṣṇa pakṣa (the 13th day of the waning moon) and ends with Bhai Tika on Dwitiya tithi of Kārtika śukla pakṣa every year.^[2] In the Gregorian calendar, the festival falls sometime between October and November every year.^[3]