During Dashain, the biggest Hindu festival in Nepal, you get to see people in many parts the country going from one place to another decked up in red, sporting distinctive red splotches of tika (a mixture of vermillion powder, rice and yoghurt) on their foreheads, and displaying their "hair accessory" - the Jamara (barley sprouts).
Without the tika or the jamara, Dashain does not feel like Dashain at all. It will have a emptiness without tika and jamara. The tika is meant to be blessing - an auspicious means of bestowing good fortune, health and long life upon those who get to wear them - by either the eldest member of the house or the house priest. Though it might be a bit messy, the tika not only adds color to the spirit of Dashain but is also a means of showing off how many relatives you have who care and wish for your wellbeing. Similarly, he jamara, like the tika, is indispensable to the festival, In fact, celebrating Dashain without the jamara would be like celebrating Christmas without Christmas tree....
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