Bhai Dooj

“Bhai Dooj” is celebrated on the last day of the 5-day long Diwali celebration. It is also known as Bhau Beej, Bharata Dwitiya, Bhai Tikk and Bhathru Dwithiya.

The festival of Bhai Dooj has a quite literal meaning attached to it. ‘Bhai’ means brother and ‘Dooj’ refer to the second day after the new moon, which is the day of celebration. In Hindu Culture, the day holds special significance into the lives of a brother and sister. This auspicious occasion not only commemorates the strong bonding between two opposite-sex siblings but is also said to protect them from evil forces and brings new hope and prosperity in their lives.

Why is Bhai Dooj Celebrated?

This festival finds its origin in various stories from ancient Indian history. The 2 of the most important and widely accepted stories are as follows:-

Story of Lord Krishna and Subhadra

According to this story, it is said that after defeating the evil demon Narakasura, Lord Krishna visited his sister Subhadra. His sister gave him a warm welcome with sweets and flowers. She then applied the ceremonial tilak on Krishna’s forehead. It is believed that this is the origin of the festival of “Bhai Dooj”.

Story of Yamaraj and Yami

Another popular and widely story revolves around the story of Yama, the God of Death. It is believed that Yama visited his beloved sister, Yami (popularly known as Yamuna) on Dwitheya, the second day after the new moon. She welcomed him with a tilak ceremony, garlanded him and fed him special dishes. They dined together after a long time and exchanged gifts. Yama, after the occasion, announced that whoever receives tilak from his sister on this particular day will enjoy a long life and prosperity. Since then this day to be celebrated as Bhai Dooj across the country.

How is Bhai Dooj Celebrated?

On this auspicious day, sisters pray to God for the longevity, well-being and prosperity of their beloved brother. With a decorated thali containing sweets, roli and coconut, the sister ceremonize the occasion by putting tilak/ vermillion mark on the forehead of their brother, followed by an aarti of him. Then they sweaten their mouths with sweets and in return sisters are lavished with gifts from their brother.

Bhai Dooj is celebrated in different parts of country with different rituals and has various folklore associated with it. The festival is known as Bhai Phota in West Bengal, Bhau Beej in Maharashtra and Yama Dwitiya in Southern India. This festival is primarily celebrated with sisters applying tilak on the brother’s forehead along with a mantra that they chant while at it. While in Haryana, along with the ritual of the tilak, dry coconut is tied with kalawa thread along its width and offered at the time of aarti.

However, before performing the above mentioned rituals, a pooja is also performed by the sister in the morning. Sisters recite a story of brother and a sister. This story is about the hardships of the journey, faced by the brother, so he can meet his sister, followed by the sister’s cunning and sacrifice, for the protection of her brother.

Bhai Dooj Pooja Story

The story goes that once there was a family living in a village that had only a sister and a brother. The sister was much older than her brother, thus when she got married, the brother was of a very tender age. The boy did not remember anything about his sister’s marriage. After the marriage, the sister never returned to her mother’s home. As the brother grew up, the image of her sister started fading from the brother’s memory with each passing year. He terribly missed his sister, especially on the Bhai Dooj day, as he used to see his friends with teeka on their forehead and plates full of sweets.

On one particular Bhai Dooj, when the boy had turned up into a handsome young boy, he inquired his mother about the reason as to why his sister never visited their home after her marriage. The mother replied that she does not come because there is a big forest between this village and the one in which she lives and there is also a big river flowing in between. One has to cross the river by boat and then there are wild animals in the forest which fill people with so much terror, that people are afraid to travel through the forest.

In-spite of knowing the immense difficulty he will have to face, the young brother decided to visit his sister on the next Bhai Dooj. The mother reminded him again of the dangers, but he did not listen, and so it was decided that he would go and visit her. When the time came the mother told him to tell his sister that she should now come over and choose a suitable bride for him.

The Brother's Journey of Hardships

The boy set off and on his way he faced rising level of river, which made it impossible for him to cross the river. There was also the danger of snakes. The boy requested the river not to drown him and told the snakes that they can bite him on his way back, after he meets his sister. The snakes agreed, the boy proceeded. Now, he came to a mountain, which started to throw big stones on him, and he again pleaded with it to let him go. The mountain also agreed. When the boy was near his sister’s village, a big tiger appeared and decided to eat him up. He pleaded again to the tiger and promised him that the tiger can feed on him on his return journey.

The poor boy knew now that his days were numbered, still, he eagerly went along to meet his only sister. He entered the house, and saw that she was performing Bhai Dooj Pooja. The sister on seeing him after such a long time, welcomed her brother with a smile and embraced him. She at once brought lovely fruits and sweet meat to eat. She set about preparing kheer, puri, kachori and lots of other delicacies. When her husband came after work, both of them provided a very enjoyable and memorable time to the young lad, so that he was full of joy.

Days passed, and it was time for the brother to take leave of his sister and brother-in-law. Before returning back, the brother narrated the whole incident to his sister and told her that his days were numbered and that he is soon going to die.

The Sister's Cunning

The sister was shocked upon hearing the story from her brother and decided to accompany him for the return journey. She secretly packed some meat for the tiger, some milk for the snakes, flowers of silver and gold for the mountain and some roli and rice for the river.

Soon they set out and the tiger came first to eat the brother. The sister gave him the meat and he went his way. Then came the mountain intending to crush her brother. She quickly performed puja and offered gold and silver flowers. The mountain was pleased with the offerings and let the brother go. Next came the snake, and it was offered milk, and went away satisfied. Finally, they reached the river and as expected, it started to rise, but the sister performed puja with roli and rice, and the river went down.

Both, brother and sister were very happy to escape the dangers and were anxious to reach home. The sister was now tired and thirsty. Soon, she saw some gypsies working far away. She wanted to ask them for water, so the brother sat under a tree, happy to be alive and sister went to the gypsies to get some water. There the gypsies predicted that the danger was not over and her brother will die very soon. She asked them to tell her some way to avoid this calamity. One old woman came to her rescue and suggested that until her brother gets married, she should go on cursing him, starting right now until the wedding is complete and also insist that all rituals done to her first, only then this boy can be saved.

For the sake of her brother’s life, she decided to follow the old woman’s advice.

The Sister's Sacrifice

So, as soon as she reached her brother, she started to curse him. The brother was taken aback by this sudden change of behavior of his sister, which continued even after reaching home. The mother and the villagers were also surprised at the nasty behavior, but no one said anything as she was married and hasn’t visited her mother’s place since.

Soon, a suitable match was found for the brother, but the behavior of the sister continued. Everyone just wanted the marriage proceedings to be done so the could be sent back to her village. On the wedding day, she insisted that all rituals be performed on her before her brother.

The sister insisted the sehra to be tied to her forehead first. She found a small snake in the sehra instead of a string. She pulled out the snake. Next, the sister insisted that the baraat should go from the back door instead of the front and no decorations be made. When the baraat was to start, somehow she fell asleep. Ignoring her words, the baraat started from the front porch. But, just as everyone gathered, the porch fell down narrowly missed the groom.

Later, at the time for pheras, the sister fell asleep again. As soon as the first phera was completed, the boy fainted as the evil spirits had came to take him away. The sister woke up on hearing the noise and came cursing in the courtyard. Hearing the abuses and seeing her blazing eyes, the evil spirits fled. It was now time for the boy and the girl to give kheer to each other. But the sister insisted on having the first morsel, in which she found a porcupine needle which she took out and put it away.

Revelation of Truth about the Sister's Behaviour

The wedding was finally over and everyone including the mother and brother were keen to see the sister leave. However, before leaving with her husband, the sister told everyone the truth and gave the reason for her bad behavior. Everyone had tears in their eyes and they fell to her feet, and all everyone said in one voice – “Let everyone have a sister like this, who is willing to be talked ill of, and will go about looking wild and angry even during a wedding, although it was to be the only wedding in the family – all this just to save her brother and family from disaster”.

Thus, the custom is prevalent that a brother does not go to his sister’s house for the teeka. Instead the sister bring or send the teeka to the brother, as danger may lurk on the way.