Tihar, or Deepawali, one of the Hindu’s greatest festivals began in the country with the observation of Kag Tihar on Sunday. The festival is celebrated from Trayodashi of Kartik Krishna to Katrik Shukla Dwitiya every year. The five day Hindu festival is considered to be of great importance as it shows reverence to not just the humans and the Gods, but also to the animals like crow, cow and dog, who maintain an intense relationship with the humans.

Deepawali is also called Yampanchak as it is celebrated for five days. The first day of the festival is called Kag Parva. The crow, which is considered messenger for Lord of Death, Yama Raj is worshipped by offering sweets and delicious dishes today. The cawing of the crows symbolises sadness and grief in the Hindu mythology, so the devotees offer the crows dishes to avert grief and deaths in their homes.

The second day of the festival is Kukur Tihar, when the dogs, considered to be an obedient pet and guard of the human, are worshipped and offered garlands, tika and meals.

On the third day, the mother of the universe, cow is worshipped by the Hindus. Cow is considered to be the surrogated mother of the human as per the Hindu myths, so they worship her with tika, garlands and fruits on the day. Laxmi, the goddess of fortune is also worshipped in each house in the evening on this day. Houses, bazaars and offices are decorated with colourful papers, lights, lamps and candles and at evening. Goddess Laxmi is worshipped with flowers, incense sticks, oil lamps, color-powders, bell and money. The females in the house also make symbolic foot-prints upto the entrance of the puja room and the house and pray to make their houses prosperous in the days to come.

The hurly-burly in the market is quiet different as compared to other days of the year. Groups especially of the children visit houses and shops reciting Bhailo and deusi, special songs for tihar during evening hours. The sounds of crackers add charismatic view to the scene of lights, lamps and candles in the towns and villages.

On the last day, also known as Bhai Tika Day, the brothers are offered tika and garland along with flowers, oil, fruits and gifts by the sisters, wishing their long age and prosperity while the brothers give gifts and cash to their sisters with love. 

Following a rise in tourist arrival, occupancy in hotels here have been running to their full capacity. They have also hiked charges by up to 50 per cent.
Govinda Raj Pahari, president of the Regional Hotel Association of Nepal (RHAN) Pokhara, said that rooms in most of the hotels were booked and they had hiked the charges by up to 50 per cent. Similarly, Fulbari Resort and Spa has hiked its room charges by 20 per cent. Bhim Dhakal, front office supervisor, said the hotel was packed to their fullest because of the pick season. The 165-room hotel has been almost packed with tourists.

This season, Pokhara has recorded the highest number of tourist arrival after the decade-long insurgency ended. However, the same is not the situation during the off-season. Entrepreneurs say during the peak season they also have to earn for the off-season so as to compensate the loss in off-season. September, October and November and March, April and May are considered as peak tourist season.

Another hotel entrepreneur and president of the Pokhara Tourism Council Bachchu Ram Tiwari said there was no consensus among the tourism entrepreneurs to hike room charges. While the full booking has brought smiles in the faces of hotel entrepreneurs, new visitors are finding it hard to get rooms. Even if they find room, the increased charge leaves them shocked. Many internal visitors had to seek accommodation in their relatives’ places.
Former president of the RHAN-Pokhara Laxmi Bahadur Bhattarai said the arrival of a large number of tourists has put the hotel entrepreneurs in high spirits.

The first Pashupati Festival-2065 organised with a view to promoting Pashupatinath as a centre of religious tourism, began here today.Inaugurating the three-day event, President Dr Ram Baran Yadav said all Nepalis would benefit if art, culture and religion were promoted. "No matter where we stay -- the Tarai, Hills or Mountains-- we are the children of this land."

He said, "Religious tourism would help strengthen brotherhood among the people. Therefore, everyone should contribute from their sides to make the event successful and promote brotherhood among all humans."
Swami Satpal Ji Maharaj from India said human minds were to be changed to change the epoch and only spiritual power could make change in human minds. "We should lit the spiritual light within every Nepali so as to end violence forever," he said.
He added that the Vedas, the Gita, the Gayatri mantras and the Himalayas had unified the people of Nepal and India. "The souls of all Nepalis and Indians are same," he said, adding, "If we can incorporate the spiritual power, there will be unity among people and harmony among human beings would be strengthened."

He hoped that the power of each individual's soul would create a great Nepal and the cordial relationship between Nepal and India would be strengthened forever.
Ramhari Dhungana of the Pashupati Bhandar Tahabil Office said thousands of pilgrims from Nepal and neighbouring countries attended the festival on the first day. He said, "The presence of people on the first day is really exciting." He, however, regretted the lack of proper management, because of which some expected guests could not be invited for the festival.
Minister for Culture Gopal Kirati, former energy minister of Uttaranchal Amrita Rao, Swami Bibhuji, Member of Sikkim Legislative Assembly Girish Chanda Rai and many other personalities from Nepal and India were present at the inaugural function. Several stalls displaying various religious items are on display in the festival area.
The festival is jointly organised by Pashupati Area Development Trust and Nepal Manav Dharma Sewa Samiti.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have nominated other 15 new cultural and religious sites of Nepal into the tentative list of World Heritage Sites (WHS). As reported, the sites were registered on January 30 and the information of the same has been handed over to the Department of Archaeology.

This list of tentative World Heritage Sites was informed in a letter sent by UNESCO to the foreign ministry of Nepal. These sites are Bhurti Complex of Dailekh, Cave Architecture of Muktinath Valley in Mustang, Khokanafor its vernacular village and mustard-oil seed industrial heritage, Medieval Earthen Walled City of Lo Manthang, Medieval Settlement of Kirtipur, Nuwakot Palace Complex, Ramagrama-the relic stupa of Lord Buddha, Rishikesh Complex of Ruru Kshetra, Sinja Valley, Medeival Town of Tansen, early medieval architectural complex of Panauti, medieval palace complex of Gorkha, Tilaurakot, the archaeological remains of ancient Shakya kingdom, Vajrayogini, early settlement of Sankhu and Ram Janaki Temple. However, these sites are said to have complied with the Operational Guidelines issued by UNESCO that calls for specific features such as age, history and status.

With the onset of the peak tourism season, hotels in northeastern frontier towns are packed with Indian tourists who enter Nepal overland.
More than two dozen hotels in Santapur, Kalpokhari, Tumling, Meghma and Jaubari are reporting full occupancy due to the inflow of Indian vacationers.

"We depend mainly on Indian tourists to fill our hotels as Nepali sightseers rarely come here," said Mingma Tamang, a hotelier in Kalpokhari. He said at least 100 Indian holidaymakers were arriving daily to visit the local tourist spots.

Tourism entrepreneurs complain that the government has been ignoring developing infrastructure despite the area's great tourism potential.

"Hotels are fully booked up to next month," said Keshari Gurung, a hotelier in Tumling. According to her, September to October is the peak season for Indian tourists who come mainly from the state of West Bengal.

Rare wildlife like the red panda and spiny babbler, and visual treats like the sunrise over the Himalaya are the major attractions for thrill