Jhapa is the easternmost district of Nepal and lies in the fertile Terai plains. It borders Ilam district in the north, Morang district in the west. Tihar is a five-day-long Hindu festival celebrated in Nepal which comes soon after Dashain. It is similar to Deepawali celebrated in India, but with a regional variation. In Nepal, all Hindu ethnic groups celebrate this festival with their own variation. Among the Newars, it is popularly known as Deepawali or Swanti.[2] The festival is celebrated from Trayodashi of Kartik Krishna to Kartik Shukla Dwitiya every year.
Tihar in general signifies the festival of lights, where diyas are lit both inside and outside the houses to make it illuminate 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 the animals like crows, cows and dogs who maintain an intense relationship with humans. People 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 a sacred welcoming area for the Gods and Goddesses of Hinduism
