Today, the sixth and last day of Tihar, also known as Yama Panchak, is celebrated as Bhai Tika, a festival where sisters pray for their brothers' long life, health, and prosperity with devotion, faith, and loyalty by applying five-color or seven-color tika as per tradition.
What you should know
On Thursday, the main day of Tihar, the second biggest festival of Nepal, celebrated on the second day of the second lunar month of Kartik every year, brothers and sisters offered tika to each other.
Today, the sixth and last day of Tihar, also known as Yama Panchak, is celebrated as Bhaitika, a festival where sisters apply Pancharangi or Saptarangi Tika to their brothers with devotion, faith and loyalty, wishing them long life, health and prosperity. With the application of Bhaitika today, the second festival of Nepali, Tihar, has also ended.
After the sisters apply tika to their brothers, the brothers also apply tika to their sisters. According to the classical belief that worshipping sisters brings unwavering good fortune and prosperity, theological scholar and member of the Nepal Panchanga Nirikh Samiti, Prof. Dr. Devmani Bhattarai informed.
Although there is no obstacle to applying Bhaitika throughout the day today, the committee had made it public that 11:39 am is the best time to find a place to apply Bhaitika. However, the state administrator said that the tika was applied at 11:39 am as per the classical belief that tika should be applied at the place itself.
Today, after worshipping the lamps, urns and Ganesha installed on the day of Lakshmi Puja, the sisters worshipped the eight gods of the Ashta Dal, including Markandeya, Ashwatthama, Bali, Vyas, Hanuman, Vibhishan, Kripacharya and Parashurama, as well as the eight Chiranjeevi, Chitragupta, Yamaraj, Yamuna and Dharmaraj, and Ganapati and other forest deities. Sisters showered their brothers with oil and garlanded them with flowers such as Saptarangi or Pancharangi Tika, Makhamali, Sayapatri or Godavari as per tradition.
Although it is being propagated that Saptarangi Tika is worn on Tihar, the classical belief states that the Tika worn on Tihar is of five colors: red, white, yellow, green and blue, informed the religious scholar Prof. Dr. Bhattarai. After applying tika, it has been a religious and social tradition for sisters to give their brothers food such as walnuts, katus, mar masala and celery roti, and brothers to show their respect by giving them clothes and dakshina, symbols of good fortune, as per their vows.
The Balgopaleshwar Temple, located in the middle of Ranipokhari in Kathmandu, was opened on this day for those who do not have sisters. Balgopaleshwar Temple opens only once a year on this day. Those who do not have sisters go to this temple on the day of Bhaitika, worship, visit and apply tika.
Similarly, at the Khanjaneshwar Mahadev Temple in Jayabageshwori, it is also customary for brothers who do not have sisters to worship and visit and apply tika. According to this belief, there was a rush of devotees at the Khanjaneshwar Mahadev Temple since morning.
