Bhāī Dūj

When it falls

The second lunar day (dvitīyā) of the bright half of Kārttika, two days after Dīpāvali, in October or November. It closes the five-day festival that Dhanteras opens.

The Phala almanac gives the exact day for your own city; the lunar and solar rules above are what it computes from.

The story

The day belongs to Yama, the lord of death, and his sister Yamunā, the river. She invited him to her home and fed him, and he was so pleased that he granted that any brother who eats at his sister's table today, and receives her mark on his forehead, will not fear death. The older name of the day is Yama Dvitīyā for this reason.

A second telling gives the day to Kṛṣṇa, who visited his sister Subhadrā after killing Narakāsura and was welcomed with a lamp, a garland and a tilak.

Where Rakṣā Bandhan has the brother pledge protection, Bhāī Dūj has him come to the sister's house as her guest: the direction of the visit is the point.

How the day is kept

• The sister makes a mark (tilak) of vermilion, sandalwood or rice paste on the brother's forehead and performs āratī, circling a lamp before him.
• She feeds him a sweet, he gives a gift, and the family eats together at her home.
• In Maharashtra the day is Bhāubīj, in Bengal Bhāi Phõṭā, in Nepal Bhāi Ṭīkā, where the mark is a seven-coloured band and the day is a national holiday.
• Brothers who cannot travel are marked in the mind: the sister makes the tilak on a coconut or a picture and sends the sweet by post.

More family bonds