A very special Tihar and a wonderful year ahead

Each day of Tihar has its own significances and own demands. Nepalese people worship animals like dogs, crows, cows and bulls during Tihar. These sacred animals are venerated for their mythological import. But it's not just the animals; Nepali people also pray to the god of wealth - the Laxmi. They try to please her and attract her to their houses by kindling lots of candles all around their houses. And why not, after all, she is the divine one who could prove to be the most useful to our mundane existence.

Oh... Nepal Blog almost forgot about the crackers. In fact, Tihar 'was' also well known for its firworks. But due to current situation of the country, use of such items are banned. The government for many years in a row now has banned the use of crackers. And who needs one ... after those real lethal crackers fired through out the country all over the year. Due to all this, people, who once used to decorate the night sky with amazing display of fireworks, did not blast a single firecracker this year.

'Deusi' and 'Bhaili' are also the prominent features of Tihar, former one for male and latter for female. People form groups and visit their relatives, friends or neighbors, where they sing a common traditional song describing why they have visited and what short of trouble they had to go through to reach their kinfolks. The hosts then provide them with food, money and other hospitalities and finally the group moves towards another destination, wishing good fortune to the hosts. Thus, the actual tradition is really beautiful but these days, people tend to play 'Deusi' and 'Bhaili' more for money rather than for enjoying its essence. There are hardly few people that have still preserved the tradition. Anyway, it is always good to hear the jumbled up noise of same song sung by many groups at different houses in the neighborhood.

The final day of Tihar holds a special event for brothers and sisters. On this day called 'Bhai Tika', sisters worship their brothers and brothers give gifts to their sisters. The day brings long departed brothers and sisters together and strengthens their relation.

Today was Laxmi puja (the day to worship the goddess of wealth). In contrary, today is also the birthday anniversary of a man who never gave any importance to wealth and dedicated his whole life for serving the Nepali literature. The man is none other than Mahakabi Laxmi Prasad Devkota, one of the greatest poets of Nepal and the beginner of Romanticism in Nepali poetry. Nepal Blog Discovery salutes to the great patron of Nepali Literature and generous being who once said "People should be judged by their heart, not by their caste".

Finally, here is something about political events that occurred during the two great festivals. The current government formed by the potentate of Nepal - King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev has promulgated various restrictions over the non-government media and press bodies. Important ones are as follows:

Such constraints over media bodies have infuriated them and they are getting complete support from the political parties that are already on the road against the government. Many foreign bodies have also warned the government to rescind their restrictions over media but the government doesn't seem to respond. Nepal Blog Discovery feels the first three on the above list can be justified but the last one seems to bee too general as it provides an undue liberty to all the members of the Royal family.