On 30 September 2017, people formed a long queue at Nepal's presidential residence in Kathmandu to receive Dashain tika from the president. Local reporting records that, after the vice president, prime minister and other officials took part, tika was offered to the public and the ceremony continued into the evening.
Dashain tika is an important blessing traditionally received from elders or respected figures. When a head of state places tika on one forehead at a time, the blessing necessarily acquires a physical order. The long wait for a brief face-to-face encounter shows a family and religious practice extending into the setting of national ceremony.