October 23: The festival of Tihar, the second biggest festival of Nepal, formally kicked off today. Tihar is also called Deepawali or the Festival of Lights and Yama Panchak. According to the Nepal Calendar Determination Committee, although Yama Panchak (five days dedicated to Lord Yamaraj) started on Saturday, Kaag Tihar or the first day of the five-day festival is being observed today.

The festival is celebrated for five full days during the Nepali month of Kartik (mid-October to mid-November).

The first day of Tihar is the day dedicated for worshipping the crows that are considered as the messenger of Lord Yamaraj, the God of Death.

As part of the Tihar festival, Kaag Tihar is being celebrated today by offering food to the crow. Today, every household offers prayers and leaves food on the top of terraces and walls for the crows to feed on. There is a general belief among the people that the crow accompanies Lord Yamaraj and is therefore immortal and worshipping it brings good fortune. 

The religious scriptures talk about how the demon king Bali was given the opportunity by Lord Bishnu to rule all over the universe for these five days. To celebrate his ascension to the lordship of the entire universes, he ordered everyone to celebrate all five days with lights and flowers.

The belief among the people is that the celebration will please Goddess Laxmi, who is considered the goddess of wealth.

Due to the change in date this year, Yama Panchak or Tihar festival which starts in the evening on the day of Kartik Krishna Trayodashi has started from Saturday evening, the state-owned RSS reported. Similarly, the Dhanteras festival of buying jewelry and copper utensils to keep Goddess Lakshmi happy was also celebrated on Saturday itself.