Every day is a celebration with your dog. But in some parts of the world, the celebration takes on massive proportions.
Kukur Tihar, also known as the Dog Festival, is celebrated in Nepal on the second day of the five-day Tihar festival, Sunday, Nov. 8 this year. The festival, the largest and most famous in the world, celebrates dogs for their loyalty and companionship. The celebration also takes place in parts of India and within global Nepali diaspora communities.
This unique festival involves rituals such as adorning dogs with marigold garlands and applying tika, a ceremonial mark on their foreheads. They also get special food, symbolizing their importance.
You’ll find big celebrations in city centers in major cities like Kathmandu and Patan, but throughout the country, people celebrate right outside homes, on public streets and in courtyards where both pet and stray dogs live.
The festival reflects the deep bond between humans and dogs, recognized in Nepalese Hinduism. Local communities participate actively, enhancing social bonds and promoting animal welfare.
Another notable day for celebrating the importance of dogs in society is Festival of San Roque in Bolivia on Aug. 16. Communities honor the patron saint of dogs, San Roque. San Roque, or Saint Roch, is considered the patron saint of dogs because a loyal hound saved his life during the 14th century by bringing him bread daily and licking his plague sores while he was sick and isolated in a forest. Locals bring their pets to church yards for holy water blessings. The dogs dress up in elaborate costumes and join vibrant street parades.
And don’t forget the Blessing of the Animals, a traditional Christian ceremony held in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and the environment. St. Francis held a deep love for all living creatures, whom he viewed as brothers and sisters in God’s creation.
Churches worldwide host this event on the Sunday near his feast day, Oct. 4, welcoming pets for a blessing a sprinkling of holy water. One of the biggest is held at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, which traditionally opens its great doors for the Procession of the Animals, a dramatic march through the cathedral featuring diverse creatures such as camels, horses, alpacas, birds of prey, reptiles and even a bowl of blue-green algae, alongside companion animals from dogs and cats to guinea pigs and lizards.
However, this year, on Oct. 4, the cathedral will commemorate the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi’s passing, reimagining the popular procession of the animals tradition. It will instead debut a massive Gaia installation – a touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram. Measuring 23 feet in diameter and featuring detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface, the rotating installation will be suspended in the Cathedral nave, offering a three-dimensional view of the planet floating in space. Special surround-sound music has been commissioned for the experience.
While the formal procession of animals will no longer be part of the ceremony this year, all pets and their human companions are welcome inside the Cathedral for this historic celebration. Following the service at 10:30 a.m., the afternoon fair and pet blessings will be held, starting at about noon, rain or shine on the cathedral grounds.
){kind=link}