Bhai Dooj
Yama Dwitiya — the second tithi after Diwali, when a sister feeds her brother in her own house.
Where it is kept All India, under many names: Bhai Phota in Bengal, Bhau Beej in Maharashtra, Bhai Tika in Nepal, Yama Dwitiya in the south.
When it falls
Computed from the Moon's elongation from the Sun. The civil day is the one carrying the tithi running in the aparahna, the afternoon division.
Overview
The direction of this festival is the opposite of Raksha Bandhan's, and that is its whole character: the brother comes to the sister's house, she puts a tilak on his forehead, feeds him a meal she has cooked, and he gives her a gift. He is a guest in her household, not she in his.
In Nepal the Bhai Tika uses a seven-coloured tilak and is a national holiday. In Bengal the Bhai Phota mark is made with sandal, kajal and curd, and the sister fasts until it is done.
Where it comes from
The name Yama Dwitiya comes from the story: Yamuna invited her brother Yama to eat at her house on this tithi, and he granted that whoever is fed by his sister today will not fear him. The account is in the Bhavishya Purana.
A second telling has Krishna going to Subhadra after killing Narakasura, and being received with a tilak and a meal — which places it in the same sequence as the preceding days.
Why it matters
Like the rakhi, it maintained a formal annual link between a woman married out of her village and her natal family — but by requiring the brother to travel, it asserted the sister's household rather than the brother's.
The Yama connection means the day carries a protective claim as well as a social one: it is asked that the brother outlive the ordinary hazards of the year.
How to celebrate
- Have the brother come to the sister's houseThe direction of travel is the substance of the festival.
- Make the tilak and feed a meal cooked at homeBoth are the sister's act; a bought meal is a different thing.
- Keep the fast until the tilak is done, if that is your customBengali Bhai Phota is kept this way.
- Bathe in the Yamuna if you are near itThe traditional addition, from the Yama and Yamuna story.
What to avoid
These are not all the same kind of thing. Some are prohibitions from a named text, some are Indian law, some are practical, and some are a confusion worth not repeating. Each item says which it is.
- Do not do it at the brother's houseIt reverses the one thing that distinguishes this festival from Raksha Bandhan.
- Do not eat before the tilak if you have taken the fastThe parana follows the rite.
- Do not treat the gift as the pointThe meal is the rite; the gift is a courtesy.
Where this comes from
Everything above is either computed by this site’s own panchang engine, or drawn from the works listed here. Where a custom is modern, commercial or contested, the page says so rather than presenting it as ancient.
- Bhavishya Purana, for the Yama and Yamuna narrative and the tithi.
- Bhagavata Purana 10.59, for the Krishna and Subhadra telling that follows the Narakasura episode.
Dates are computed for the place named above and will differ elsewhere. Regional traditions vary; where two reckonings are in use, both are named rather than one being chosen silently.
Other festivals
All festivals, with dates for any year · The calendar on the home page