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Tihaar Festival
Corresponding to the Indian festival of Diwali, Tihaar is also celebrated as the Festival of Lights in Sikkim with the lighting of lamps accompanied with traditional caroling called
Deusi and Bhailo.
It falls on the last two days of the dark half of Kartik (October-November). For some it is a three-day festival.
In Sikkim the festival honors certain animals on successive days. The first day known as "Kak(crow) Tihar" is dedicated to crows and they are offered rice and some if caught are even garlanded. On the second day, which is known as "Kukkur(dog)
Tihar", dogs are garlanded.
On the third day the cows are honored with garlands and their horns are painted in bright colors. It is the turn of the bullocks on the fourth day. The fifth day is also known as
Bhai Tika in which brothers trip the homes of their sisters and they apply
tikas vermilion to each other foreheads.
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