Nepal's festival of lights — five days honouring crows, dogs, cows, Laxmi and the bond of brothers and sisters, with Deusi-Bhailo songs at every door. Exact Tihar dates for Ottawa and Canada, computed for your timezone.
When: The Diwali season — Kartik's dark fortnight into the new moon (October–November); exact Ottawa dates below
Duration: Five days — Kag (crow), Kukur (dog), Gai Tihar & Laxmi Puja, Govardhan/Mha Puja, and Bhai Tika
The idea: Each day honours a relationship — with the birds, the animals, wealth, oneself, and one's siblings
Signature traditions: Marigold garlands everywhere, oil lamps and rangoli, Deusi-Bhailo singing door to door, the seven-colour Bhai Tika
Same nights: Tihar's Laxmi Puja falls on Diwali's night — Nepal and India light lamps together
Five Days, Five Relationships
Tihar is Nepal's festival of lights — Diwali's season seen through a distinctly Nepali lens, where each of the five days honours a relationship. Kag Tihar feeds the crows, Yama's messengers, so they carry no bad news. Kukur Tihar — the day the world's photographers have fallen in love with — garlands every dog in marigolds, marks its forehead with tika and feeds it well: the dog is Yama's gatekeeper and humanity's oldest friend, honoured without irony. Gai Tihar venerates the cow in the morning, and that evening Laxmi Puja fills every doorway with lamps and rangoli to draw the goddess of prosperity inside — the same night as India's Diwali. The fourth day is Govardhan Puja, which Kathmandu's Newar community keeps as Mha Puja — the worship of one's own self for the year ahead, and their new year. The fifth day crowns the festival: Bhai Tika.
Deusi-Bhailo and Bhai Tika
Tihar's evenings belong to Deusi-Bhailo: bands of children and young people go singing door to door — bhailo for the girls, deusi for the boys — carrying blessings in exchange for sweets, fruit and coins, Nepal's most beloved carolling tradition. And the festival ends with its most tender day, Bhai Tika: sisters mark their brothers' foreheads with the saptarangi tika — seven colours in a vertical line — circle them with oil and marigolds, and pray for their long life, recalling how Yamuna delayed Yama himself, death at her door, until her brother's tika was complete. Brothers give gifts and pledge protection in return — the Nepali sibling festival, cousin to India's Bhai Dooj and Raksha Bandhan. The exact Ottawa dates for the five days are in the Festivals & Dates list on this page.
Tihar in Ottawa & Canada
Tihar travels to Canada with all five days intact. Ottawa's dogs will not object to Kukur Tihar — a marigold garland, a tika and a good meal for the family dog (and biscuits for the neighbourhood's) is the day done properly; crows take their offering on the porch rail. Laxmi Puja aligns with Diwali night — our Diwali page covers the lamp-lighting details, and mixed Nepali–Indian households keep one shared evening. Bhai Tika needs only the seven-colour tika (Nepali stores and online suppliers carry saptarangi sets, or seven small bowls of home-mixed colour), and the video call carries it across oceans. Ottawa's Nepali community organizes Deusi-Bhailo rounds and Tihar gatherings — the dates on this page are computed for Ottawa's timezone, which can differ from Nepal's by a day.
Each link opens our computed festival calendar with exact dates and timings for your city.
Questions
When is Tihar this year in Ottawa?
The exact Ottawa dates for all five days — computed for the Canadian timezone — are shown in the Festivals & Dates list on this page. Laxmi Puja falls on the same night as Diwali.
Is Tihar the same as Diwali?
Same season and the same central Laxmi Puja night, but Tihar's five days are distinctly Nepali — honouring crows, dogs and cows before Laxmi, closing with Bhai Tika, and sung through with Deusi-Bhailo. Nepal and India light their lamps together, each in their own way.
What is the seven-colour tika of Bhai Tika?
The saptarangi tika — seven colours applied in a vertical band on the brother's forehead by his sister, unique to Bhai Tika. Ready-made saptarangi sets are sold in Nepali stores, or seven small bowls of coloured paste are prepared at home.
Source: Nepali tradition; Yama–Yamuna tradition (Bhai Tika). Regional versions may vary — this text follows the version most widely used in community worship.