Tihar 2026 in South Korea: Bhai Tika Date and Celebrations for the Nepali Community
Tihar 2026 in South Korea runs November 7–11, with Bhai Tika on Wednesday 11 November — the festival the country's EPS-era Nepali community keeps alive far from
By Nepalese Events Australia Editorial
Published: 2026-10-24T23:45:00.000000Z
Category: Festivals
South Korea's Nepali community — built over two decades of the Employment Permit System and grown into tens of thousands of residents — celebrates Tihar in November's second week. Tihar 2026 in Korea runs Saturday 7 November to Wednesday 11 November, with Kukur Tihar and Laxmi Puja on Sunday 8 November and Bhai Tika on Wednesday 11 November.
Korea Tihar 2026 dates
• Kag Tihar: Saturday, 7 November
• Kukur Tihar & Laxmi Puja: Sunday, 8 November — evening puja (~5:35 PM KST)
• Gai Tihar: Monday, 9 November
• Govardhan Puja / Mha Puja: Tuesday, 10 November
• Bhai Tika: Wednesday, 11 November
Korea is 3 hours 15 minutes ahead of Nepal, putting a late-morning sahit near 2:45 PM Korean time — mid-afternoon on a workday, so the ceremony shifts to morning or evening for most families; the worldwide sahit er converts the official 2083 announcement, and Nepal–Seoul time shows the offset.
The community's structure
Korea's Nepali community is concentrated in the industrial belts around Seoul — Ansan, Gimhae, Hwaseong, Uijeongbu — and organised through NRNA Korea and a web of regional and occupation-d associations. The community's defining feature is its worker foundation: for members whose families are in Kathmandu or the hills, Bhai Tika's sibling ceremony is the observance most often held over call, which is precisely why the community's own Tihar gatherings — Deusi Bhailo groups, association dinners — carry extra weight here. Korean cities' early November darkness and cold also make the festival feel closer to Kathmandu than anywhere else in the diaspora: this is Tihar in a Northern-Hemisphere autumn that looks like the real thing.
For festival remittances, the KRW–NPR rate is on the exchange page; updates land on the South Korea desk and /world/kr.
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