The festival of Bhai Dooj is celebrated on the second day of Diwali. This festival is celebrated to strengthen the brother-sister relationship and on this day sisters worship their brothers with the wish of long life, happiness, prosperity, and good health. Bhai Dooj is also called Yam Dwitiya because it occurs on the second day of Kartik Shukla Paksha. There are many religious stories and beliefs behind this festival, which makes this festival even more important.
When is Bhai Dooj 2024
This year Bhai Dooj is being celebrated on 3 November 2024. This year Diwali was for two days. Both 31 October and 1 November are Amavasya dates of Kartik month. In such a situation, Govardhan Puja is being celebrated on 2 November and Bhai Dooj on 3 November.
How to celebrate Bhai Dooj
On Bhai Dooj, sisters do special worship for their brothers and pray for their long life. Different places have different customs of celebrating Bhai Dooj. In some places, sisters make a square for worship on the wall or ground. Worship is done on this square. In this, the square is made with rice flour.
Then the sister applies turmeric-lime tilak on the brother and gives him sweets. Brothers also give shagun to their sisters. It is considered similar to Rakshabandhan, but it is a festival of applying tilak instead of tying rakhi.
Beliefs related to Bhai Dooj
There are two stories related to Bhai Dooj. The first story is related to Yamraj and Yamuna ji. In Hinduism, Yamraj, the god of death, has a sister named Yamuna. It is said that once Yamraj ji came to his sister Yamuna's house at her request. Then Yamuna ji respected her brother, applied tilak on him, and fed him. Yamraj ji was very happy about this and asked Yamuna ji to ask for a boon. Yamuna ji asked for the boon of long life and happiness and prosperity for all the brothers. Since then, on this day, sisters have worshiped their brothers and prayed for a long life by applying tilak.
The story of Lord Krishna and Subhadra
According to another story, after killing Narakasura, Lord Krishna went to meet his sister Subhadra. Subhadra welcomed him applied tilak and fed him sweets. Due to this tradition, the festival of Bhai Dooj is also celebrated.
Rules and Traditions of Bhai Dooj
Tilak Tradition- On Bhai Dooj, sisters apply tilak to their brother with roli, sandalwood, or kumkum. In some places, tilak is made with a mixture of turmeric and lime and applied on the brother's forehead. After tilak, the brother's aarti is performed and sweets are fed.
Decorating the thali- Sisters decorate a special thali on this day, in which role, akshat (rice), lamp, sweets, and coconut are kept. This thaal is used for worship.
Feeding brother- It is believed that if a brother eats food at his sister's house on this day, he is blessed with a long life. Therefore, in many houses, the brother is fed food prepared by the sister.
Exchange of gifts- On this day, brothers give gifts to their sisters, which is a symbol of love and care for their sisters.
Worship before sunset- It is believed that the worship of Bhai Dooj should be done before sunset so that auspicious results are obtained.
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