Bhai Dooj 2026भाई दूज

When is Bhai Dooj?

Observed on Shukla Dwitiya, Kartik month. Dates follow the Panchang for New Delhi and can differ by a day in other places — check the Panchang for your city.

What Bhai Dooj means

Bhai Dooj closes the five days of Diwali with the bond between brothers and sisters. The sister applies a tilak, performs aarti and feeds her brother, praying for his long and healthy life; the brother gives her a gift and his promise of support. It is also called Yama Dwitiya, because the story behind it is about Yama, the lord of death, and his sister Yamuna.

Where Raksha Bandhan centres on the brother's promise to protect, Bhai Dooj centres on the sister's prayer for the brother's life. Families who cannot meet often keep the day by video call, and sisters without brothers worship the moon or offer the tilak to a cousin or a brother-like friend.

The story of Bhai Dooj

Yama and Yamuna are the children of Surya. Yamuna often begged her brother to visit her, but Yama, busy with his duties, kept putting it off. At last, on Kartik Shukla Dwitiya, he came. Overjoyed, Yamuna welcomed him with aarti, applied a tilak, and served him a meal she had cooked herself.

Pleased, Yama asked her to choose a boon. She asked that every year on this day he would visit her, and that any brother who receives his sister's tilak and eats at her home on this day should be free from the fear of untimely death. Yama granted it — which is why the day is also called Yama Dwitiya, and why bathing in the Yamuna on this day is considered especially blessed.

Another story is told in many homes: after slaying the demon Narakasura, Krishna went to his sister Subhadra. She welcomed him with lamps, flowers and sweets and applied a tilak to his forehead — the gesture every sister repeats on Bhai Dooj.

Bhai Dooj puja vidhi, step by step

The ceremony is short and is usually done in the afternoon, after the sister has prepared a meal. Brothers traditionally do not eat at home that day but go to the sister's house.

What you need

• A thali with roli or kumkum, akshat (rice), a diya and sweets
• A coconut (gola), betel leaf and supari in some families
• Kalawa (sacred thread) or a dry-fruit garland, as per family custom
• A low seat (patla) for the brother
• The meal the sister has cooked

When to do the puja

Bhai Dooj is on Kartik Shukla Dwitiya, the second day after Diwali. The tilak is usually done in the afternoon (aparahna), avoiding Rahu Kaal. See the Panchang for your city.

Steps

1. Prepare the place. Draw a small square of rice flour or a rangoli and place the seat on it. In parts of North India women draw the Bhai Dooj chowk and story figures on the floor.
2. Seat the brother. The brother sits facing north or east; the sister may cover his head with a cloth or handkerchief.
3. Tilak. The sister applies a tilak of roli and rice on his forehead, and in some families gives him a coconut and betel leaf in his hands.
4. Aarti. She performs aarti with the diya and prays for his long life, often reciting the traditional verse about Yamuna and Yama.
5. Sweets and meal. She feeds him a sweet and serves the meal she has prepared.
6. Gifts and blessings. The brother gives a gift and seeks her blessing if she is older, or blesses her if she is younger.

Offerings & food: Puri, kheer, bhuni ki puri, laddoo, mithai, dry fruits

Mantras for Bhai Dooj

Bhai Dooj across India

Bhai Dooj (North India), Bhai Tika (Nepal — 2-day grand celebration), Bhai Beej (Gujarat/Maharashtra), Bhai Phonta (Bengal), Yama Dwitiya (South India)

North India

Bhai Dooj: tilak, aarti and a meal at the sister's home; many bathe in the Yamuna at Mathura's Vishram Ghat, where Yama and Yamuna are worshipped together.

Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka

Bhau Beej: sisters perform aarti for their brothers and serve basundi-puri; girls without brothers worship the moon.

Gujarat

Bhai Beej: the brother visits the sister's home for a meal and gives her gifts.

Bengal

Bhai Phonta: sisters fast until they apply a phonta of sandalwood, kajal and curd, chanting 'Bhaier kopale dilam phonta, Jomer duare porlo kanta'.

Nepal

Bhai Tika on the fifth day of Tihar: sisters apply a seven-coloured tika and garlands of makhamali flowers, which do not wilt — a wish for the brother's lasting life.

Prayers to recite

Do’s and don’ts

Frequently asked questions