It is a five-day-long Hindu festival celebrated in Nepal which comes soon after Dashain. Tihar is the Nepali version of Deepawali but with regional variations. It is also known as the Festival of Lights, with diyas being lit both inside and outside the houses to illuminate it at night. The five-day festival is considered to be of great importance, as it shows reverence to not just the humans and the Gods, but also to animals like crow, cow and dog who maintain an intense relationship with the humans. During Tihar, people go door-to-door singing and dancing, enjoy festive foods, and make patterns on the floor of living rooms or courtyards using materials such as colored rice, dry flour, colored sand or flower petals outside of their house, called "Rangoli" which is meant to be sacred welcoming areas for the Hindu deities.[2] In Nepal all Hindu ethnic groups celebrate this festival, but with a variety of regional and cultural practices. For instance, among the Newars, it is known as Swanti and includes practices such as Mha Puja, the worship of the self.
