As the five-day Tihar festival entered its third day on Thursday, the sale of Marigold flowers, which is widely used for decorations to mark the Laxmi Puja, boomed in the markets across the country.

Marigold flowers have a significant role during Tihar, known as the festival of flowers and lights.

It is estimated that the Kathmandu Valley alone consumes around 75 percent of the marigolds sold across the country during Tihar.

Most of the marigolds sold in the country are grown in Nuwakot, Dhading, Sindhuli, Kavre, Kaski and Chitwan. Around 30 percent of the requirement is imported from India.

Tihar also sees a surge in demand for other flowers like globe amaranth (makhmali) and chrysanthemum (godavari). 

This year, the country is expected to see sales of around 300,000 globe amaranth garlands and 100,000 chrysanthemum and other garlands.

Here are the pictures of marigold trade on the streets of Kathmandu captured by Post photographers.