Damauli (Tanahu), Oct 23: The Bhaitika ritual of the Tihar festival is usually the occasion on which sisters put the Bhaitika on the foreheads of their brothers wishing them good health, happiness and prosperity.
But in a break with tradition, Madan and Suman Timilsina, brothers from Sewar, Ward 10, Byas Municipality, Tanahu, have applied Bhaitika to each other. They exchanged the Bhaitika with each other at 11.39 am, the auspicious hour for observing this year’s the Bhaitika rituals.
In the beginning, Madan, the older brother put the seven-colour- tika on the forehead of Suman, the younger brother, and also garlanded him by performing all the associated rituals. He also blessed the younger brother in this process.
After this, it was Suman’s turn and he put the colourful ‘tika’ on his older brother’s forehead, conducting all the related ritualistic steps of Bhaitika.
Madan and Suman have been celebrating Bhaitika by applying tika to each other in this way for the past eight years.
“Since we have no own sisters, we have been celebrating Bhaitika like this for eight years,” Madan said of their ‘unusual’ practice of Bhaitika.
Many people initially found it strange when Madan and Suman performed Bhaitika in this manner. There was no social norm of applying Bhaitika between brothers.
The main day of five-day Tihar festival is Bhaitika. The Bhaitika is a time-honoured tradition in which sisters apply the seven-coloured tika on the foreheads of their brothers and adorning them with globe amaranth and marigold garlands, wishing them a long life.
