Kukur Tihar
Annual festival from Nepal honouring dogs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kukur Tihar (Nepali: कुकुर तिहार), also known as Festival of Dogs or Day of the Dogs, is an annual festival originating from Nepal. It falls on the second day of the five-day festival of Tihar (usually in October or November).
Day of the Dogs
| Kukur Tihar कुकुर तिहार | |
|---|---|
| Official name | Kukur Tihar |
| Also called | Festival of Dogs Day of the Dogs |
| Observed by | |
| Type | Religious |
| Significance | honors the loyalty of dogs and their role as companions and protectors |
| Celebrations | Honouring dogs |
| Observances | Prayers and religious rituals |
| Date | |
| Frequency | Annual |
This day is dedicated to the worship of dogs In Hindu belief, dogs are considered messengers of Yama, the god of death, and are therefore honored. Hindus offer prayers to please Yama by showing gratitude to dogs for their loyalty and protection.
On Kukur Tihar, dogs are adorned with tika on their foreheads and decorated with flower garlands. They are treated with great respect and offered a variety of foods, including meat, milk, eggs, dog foods, and traditional Nepali foods such as sel roti. It is believed that showing disrespect to dogs on this day is a sin.
Kukur Tihar is also celebrated by the Nepali diaspora around the world.
Background
Tihar is a five-day-long Hindu festival originating from Nepal; it is the second-largest festival in the country, after Dashain.[1][2][3] Kukur Tihar is celebrated on the second day of Tihar.[2][4] During the festival of Tihar, many animals including cows and crows are also worshipped.[5][6]
In the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, the five Pandavas on their way to heaven are accompanied by a dog.[7] The five Pandavas with their wife Draupadi and brothers climb the Himalayas; all of them except Yudhishthira and his dog perishing along the way.[8] Then Yudhishthira meets Indra, King of the gods, who welcomes him to heaven but tells him he has to leave his dog behind.[8][9] Yudhishthira refuses to enter heaven without his dog and says he will go back to earth.[8][10][11] The dog disappears and it is replaced by Yama, the god of death; Indra is impressed by his actions and then his righteousness opens the gates of heaven for Yudhishthira.[8][9]
In Hindu mythology, Yama has two dogs—Shyama and Sharvara—who guard the door of hell.[12] Nepali Hindus believe that by worshipping dogs they start to see death positively, because a dog follows them in their final journey.[13] They hope that dogs will guard them against the torture in hell.[13] Dogs are considered to be a companion of Yama and to please him, dogs are worshipped.[2][14]
According to ABC Science, dogs might have been first domesticated in Nepal and Mongolia.[15]
Celebrations
| Explanatory note on Hindu festival dates | |
|---|---|
The Hindu calendar is lunisolar but most festival dates are specified using the lunar portion of the calendar. A lunar day is uniquely identified by three calendar elements: māsa (lunar month), pakṣa (lunar fortnight) and tithi (lunar day).
Furthermore, when specifying the masa, one of two traditions are applicable, viz. amānta / pūrṇimānta. If a festival falls in the waning phase of the moon, these two traditions identify the same lunar day as falling in two different (but successive) masa. A lunar year is shorter than a solar year by about eleven days. As a result, most Hindu festivals occur on different days in successive years on the Gregorian calendar. | |
Tihar is celebrated around October or November every year.[16] During the festival, dogs are worshipped, bathed, and decorated with tilaka, which is made from kumkuma or gulal powders with rice and yoghurt.[13][17] Flower garlands are draped around their necks and they are offered food including meat, milk, eggs, and dog food.[2] Police dogs and stray dogs are also honoured.[18] Kukur Tihar also celebrates the relationship between dogs and humans.[19] It is considered a sin if someone behaves disrespectfully to a dog on this day.[20]
Reception
The Kukur Tihar festival has been adopted in the United States, with the first "Kukur Tihar USA - Day of the Dog Celebration"[21] taking place on October 27, 2024, at James Long Park in Haymarket, Virginia. Event founder Jewan "Jack" Tiwari announced the festival would be celebrated annually in the U.S. on the last Sunday of October [22][23]
Following this schedule, the second annual celebration was held on October 26, 2025. The 2025 event, which featured the traditional blessing ceremony, received a formal commendation from the office of U.S. Congressman Suhas Subramanyam for its role in promoting cultural exchange and community compassion.[24]
After the April 2015 Nepal earthquake, Animal Nepal used the occasion of the festival to promote awareness about dogs who became homeless.[18] The Kathmandu Post reported that people were buying foreign breeds of dogs which left the local dogs in the streets.[25]
Kukur Tihar spread around Mexico in 2016 to make people aware of respecting animals.[26] Special Broadcasting Service reported that many Nepalis in Australia were also celebrating the festival.[27][28] In 2008. Asian Art in London celebrated the festival by creating a dog walk charity event.[29] Also in 2016, Kathmandu Metropolitan City with the help of Humane Society International and Jane Goodall Institute Nepal created a program to "humanely manage urban dog population".[30] An educational assessment done by International Companion Animal Management Coalition (ICAM Coalition) found that dogs in the capital of Nepal were "generally healthy and accepted by the community".[31]
In 2018, a dog named Kushal was named "The Best Dog of the Year" by the Nepal Police on the occasion of the festival after the dog helped discover the murderer of a 10-year-old girl.[32]
After the Chinese Lychee and Dog Meat Festival, in which festival-goers eat dog meat and lychees, garnered international outrage, One Green Planet described Kukur Tihar as "[it] will restore your faith in humanity".[33] People on social media contrasted the Chinese festival with Kukur Tihar and The Dodo reported that "[it gave] heartbroken dog lovers a reason to feel hopeful again".[34] In a 2016 newspaper article, the President of Animal Nepal appealed to Nepalis "to take a pledge this Kukur Tihar, to not just worship your pets on this day but to do the right thing for them all year round. Unchain and uncage your dogs, learn to interact with them, take them for walks, understand their feelings, …"[35] A 2007 BBC photo essay also pointed out the need to improve the treatment of Nepali dogs which, "during the rest of the year, are not generally well treated..."[36]
Gallery
Kukur Tihar USA 2025
Kukur Tihar USA 2025- Haymarket, Virginia
Dog bedecked with flower garlands
The feet and forehead of dog are adorned with a red tika
Alongside pet dogs, stray dogs are also worshipped on this day.
