If this reads like a filler piece, that's cuz it might be? When we were young those earthen digs were all the rage in tihar. We'd soak up the oil lamps in water for days so they didn't soak up oil, and meticulously put wick and oil in every single one of the hundreds(!) of lamps. And finally light each one individually. Sometimes the wind would blow out the light in 30 minutes even and they'd send us kids to play the fiery tags of war with the wind. If we were lucky we'd have about half the lamps still burning at the end of the night, at which point we'd go to put them out. This game would go on for all five days of Tihar.
At some point we switched the earthen lamps for candles, because they were so much easier, less dangerous& none of that oily nonsense.
And then the cheap Chinese bright hanging holiday lights came. You put them on once and you're done for the entire week, no fear of fire, spillage or any accidents. Safe, convenient, and not particularly pricey.
They ruled the roost soon after.
And now those lights are everywhere. Some neighborhoods have adorned their streets, trees, and poles with lights, temples are bejeweled in those bright colorful electronic sparkles. Kathmandu in Laxmi Puja at night is quite a sight to see; everyone goes out on a drive around town to watch the bright delight of the brightly bejewelled town. I should know, we did that like four hours before as I write this from my airport departure gate.
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