Beautiful Nepal Festival Thanks Dogs for their Loyalty and Friendship

If you have a dog, you probably cuddle it every day, maybe even celebrate its birthday every year.

In Nepal, there is an additional day dogs receive extra love. Concurrent with the Diwali festival in neighboring India, Nepal also has a scheduled time of the year for rituals and honoring called the Tihar Festival.

On the second day of the festival, named Kukur Tihar, all the attention is on man’s best friend.

Not only are dogs with owners venerated; strays are not forsaken in this festival. Abundant and delicious food is given to each one in recognition of their honesty and loyalty.

Garlands of flowers are put on each dog’s neck, representing their importance; and their foreheads are marked with a red mark called Tika, made from red dye powder, which shows they are an object of devotion.

Nepal’s Hindu practitioners consider the dog an important part of their lives as an important part of dharma, the path of righteousness.

Photos of the festival have roamed around the internet, which inspired dog owners from all over the world to ‘venerate’ their own dogs at home, spoiling them even more than usual.

Some owners decorated their dogs with birthday hats and roses to share on social media.

Not only dogs are venerated in this festival. Family relationships, crows, cows, and oxen also have a day of veneration.

In total, it is a five-day festival. If you don’t want to miss it, be sure to visit Nepal in either October or November.