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When you go to a country, not only do you have to experience food, clothing, housing and transportation, but you also have to try to blend in with its people and customs. These aspects are essential if you want a good travel experience, and festivals are the best way to quickly blend in with local customs.
Nepal has the largest number of festivals in the world, with more than 300 festivals in a year combined, and even the national holidays are more than 50. It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare for these festivals every year, so I don't know how Nepalese people keep track of so many dates.
Not only are there many festivals, but Nepalis are also unique in the way they celebrate them. diwali is the second largest festival in Nepal, and unlike traditional festivals, diwali is celebrated first for Nepalese animals, and then for people to attend. If you visit Nepal during diwali, it is definitely the most unique experience.
Diwali lasts for five days, and each day has a different meaning. The first day is Crow Day, a festival for the crows in Nepal. The Nepalese believe that crows are the messengers of death, and on that day people scatter food on the ground for the crows to eat as a tribute to the "messengers of death".
The day after Diwali is the dog festival, a festival dedicated to dogs. The local people believe that dogs can lead the souls of the dead to heaven, so the Nepalese people respect dogs. Every year on this day, they put garlands of flowers on dogs, sprinkle flower petals on their heads, and dot their foreheads with red tika (vermilion). In such an environment, the Nepalese dogs can live, so to speak, a very pleasant life.
On the third day, it is the day of worshipping the god of wealth and cows. The locals will wash the cows and offer them with flower garlands again, and it is worth mentioning that the image of the god of wealth in Nepal is female. At nightfall, people paint mandala flowers on the entrance of their homes with tika and light oil lamps to attract the attention of the god of wealth and bless their families.
The fourth day in Nepal can be described as lively. There is no specific form of diwali on this day, each ethnic group has its own celebration, and the most famous one is the New Year parade of the Niwari. On this day, the Nivali people have taken to the streets to celebrate the arrival of the New Year with rallies, and the status of the living goddess, will also show up on this day to participate in the celebration.
The fifth day of diwali is family-oriented. On this day in Nepal, brothers and sisters meet and light tikka on their foreheads, and the family sits around the table while the mother distributes food as a way to increase the bonding between brothers and sisters.
Once the family finishes eating, the five-day diwali in Nepal comes to an end. If you want to go to Nepal during the festival of lights, make sure to check the festival time in advance. diwali has no fixed date in Nepal, it varies from year to year and is not announced in advance, but it is usually held between October and November in the Gregorian calendar. I believe that you will get more than you think in this country with many accolades.