The Nepal Calendar Determination Committee has announced 11:55 am as the auspicious time for receiving and offering Bhai Tika of Tihar festival.

Chairperson of the Committee, Prof Dr Ram Chandra Gautam said that 11:55 am is the most auspicious time for the Tika.It, however, can be held until sunset, he added.

On this day, brothers are seated at a specially anointed place around which a trail of mustard oil is drawn. The sisters then offer the brothers tika and garlands of 'Dubo' and 'Makhamali'.

After placing colourful tika on the foreheads of their brothers, sisters offer them a treat consisting varieties of sweets, walnut, spices and 'Sel', a special kind of bread cooked in oil.

Brothers also offer their sisters tika in return, wish them happiness and good luck, and give them presents.

The occasion commemorates a legendary event in which a sister has won a boon from "Yama", the deity of death that her brother would not die until the mustard oil is dried up and the garland of 'Dubo' and 'Makhamali' faded.

The Bhaitika tradition is so strong in Nepali society that even those who have no brothers or sisters of their own receive tika from others whom they regard as brothers and sisters.