Bhai Dooj

Last updated
Bhai Dooj
Also calledBhai Tika, Bhau Beej, Bhai Phonta, Bhratri Dwitiya
Observed by Hindus
TypeReligious
DateKartika 2 (amanta tradition)
Kartika 17 (purnimanta tradition)
2023 date15 November (i.e. Kartik 29)
FrequencyAnnual
Explanatory note
Hindu festival dates

The Hindu calendar is lunisolar but most festival dates are specified using the lunar portion of the calendar. A lunar day is uniquely identified by three calendar elements: māsa (lunar month), pakṣa (lunar fortnight) and tithi (lunar day).

Contents

Furthermore, when specifying the masa, one of two traditions are applicable, viz. amānta / pūrṇimānta. If a festival falls in the waning phase of the moon, these two traditions identify the same lunar day as falling in two different (but successive) masa.

A lunar year is shorter than a solar year by about eleven days. As a result, most Hindu festivals occur on different days in successive years on the Gregorian calendar.

Bhai Dooj, Bhai Tika, Bhaubeej, Bhai Beej, Bhai Phonta or Bhratri Dwitiya is a festival celebrated by Hindus on the second lunar day of the Shukla Paksha (bright fortnight) of Kartika, the eighth month of the Vikram Samvat Hindu calendar or the Shalivahana Shaka calendar. It is celebrated during the Diwali or Tihar festival and Holi festival. The celebrations of this day are similar to the festival of Raksha Bandhan.

A traditional Newari painting about Kija puja's legend. Newari traditional painting about Kijapuja.jpg
A traditional Newari painting about Kija puja's legend.

In the southern part of India, the day is celebrated as Yama Dwitiya. [1] In the Kayastha community, two Bhai Doojs are celebrated. The more famous one comes on the second day after Diwali. But the lesser-known one is celebrated a day or two after Diwali. In Haryana and Uttar Pradesh a ritual also followed, a dry coconut (named gola in regional language) with klewa[ clarification needed ] tied along its width for worshipping is also used at the time of doing aarti of a brother. [2] In Bengal the day is celebrated as Bhai Phota, which comes one day after Kali Puja.

Regional Variations

The festival is known as:

According to Hindu religion, after slaying the evil demon Narakasura, Lord Krishna visited his sister Subhadra who gave him a warm welcome with sweets and flowers. She also affectionately applied tilaka on Krishna's forehead. Some believe this to be the origin of the festival.

The ceremony

Tilak of seven colors used in Nepalese celebration Bhaitika 02.jpg
Tilak of seven colors used in Nepalese celebration

On the day of the festival, sisters invite their brothers for a sumptuous meal often including their favourite dishes/sweets. The procedure may be different in Bihar and central India. The whole ceremony signifies the duty of a brother to protect his sister, as well as a sister's blessings for her brother. [5]

Carrying forward the ceremony in traditional style, sisters perform arti for their brother and apply a red tika on the brother's forehead. This tika ceremony on the occasion of Bhai Bij signifies the sister's sincerest prayers for the long and happy life of her brother and treat them with gifts. In return, elder brothers bless their sisters and may treat them also with gifts or cash.

As it is customary in Haryana and Maharashtra to celebrate the auspicious occasion of Bhau-beej, women who do not have a brother worship the Moon Chandra instead. They apply mehendi on girls as their tradition. The sister whose brother lives far away from her and can not go to her house, sends her sincerest prayers for the long and happy life of her brother through the moon god. She performs aarti for the Moon. This is the reason why children of Hindu parents affectionately call the Moon Chandamama (Chanda means moon and mama means mother's brother).

The celebration

Sandesh with the word 'Bhaiphonta' written is offered by Bengali sisters during Bhai Phonta. Bhaiphonta sandesh - Kolkata 2022-10-27 090519.jpg
Sandesh with the word 'Bhaiphonta' written is offered by Bengali sisters during Bhai Phonta.

Bhai Phonta

Bhai Phonta at a Bengali household in West Bengal, India. Bhai Dooj (Bhai Phonta).jpg
Bhai Phonta at a Bengali household in West Bengal, India.

Bhai Phonta in West Bengal is celebrated with much splendour. The ceremony is marked with many rituals along with a grand feast arranged for the brothers. It is necessary that, both brother and sister are more than 5 years of age. [6]

Bhai Bij

The festival of Bhai Bij is popular in Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa and is celebrated with great fervour and gaiety. Brothers and sisters look forward to the occasion with immense enthusiasm. To add charm to the occasion, Bhai Bij gifts are given to brothers from sisters as a token of love and appreciation. [7]

Bhav Bij is a time for family reunions as all brothers and sisters in the family get together. Close relatives and friends are also invited to celebrate the Bhav Bij in many families. Special dishes for the festival include the Maharashtra sweet called basundi poori or kheerni poori. [8] On this occasion, brothers and sisters exchange gifts. And both of them pray for their long and happy life. [9]

Bhai Tika in Nepal

Bhai Tika in Nepal is also known as Bhai Tihar meaning Tihar (festival) of brothers. On this day, sisters pray to Yamraj for a long life and prosperity for their brothers. [10] The ritual involves sisters marking the forehead of their brothers with a seven coloured long tika. The rest of the ritual is similar to that performed by Hindus elsewhere. A special garland of the Gomphrena globosa flower is made by the sister as an offering to their brothers.

Rabindranath Tagore and the Partition of Bengal

Rachel Fell McDermott, Professor of Asian Studies at Columbia University, describes Rabindranath Tagore's rakhi-bandhan ceremonies, inspired by the Bhai Dooj ritual, which were organized to protest the 1905 Partition of Bengal

In 1905 Rabindranath Tagore extended the symbolism of Brother's Second, a ritual of bonding between brothers and sisters that is celebrated right after the Pujas have concluded, to evoke friendship between Hindus and Muslims: members of both communities would tie red threads of brotherhood on each other's wrists. All throughout the partition period, these rakhi-bandhan ceremonies were regularly announced in the Bengali and English papers. In addition, some landlords, even the British Indian Association, saw that the boycott and emphasis upon swadeshi items were disturbing peace with rural Muslims in their areas, and withdrew their support. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diwali</span> Hindu festival of lights

Diwali, also called Deepavali or Deepawali, is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual victory of Dharma over Adharma, light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. Diwali is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar months of Ashvin and Kartika—between around mid-September and mid-November. The celebrations generally last five or six days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raksha Bandhan</span> Hindu annual rite

Raksha Bandhan is a popular and traditionally Hindu annual rite or ceremony that is central to a festival of the same name celebrated in South Asia. It is also celebrated in other parts of the world significantly influenced by Hindu culture. On this day, sisters of all ages tie a talisman or amulet called the rakhi around the wrists of their brothers. The sisters symbolically protect the brothers, receive a gift in return, and traditionally invest the brothers with a share of the responsibility of their potential care.

Śrāvaṇa is the fifth month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar, Śrāvaṇa is the fifth month of the year, typically beginning in mid to late July and ending in late August. In the Tamil calendar, it is known as Āadi and is the fifth month of the solar year. In lunar religious calendars, Śrāvaṇa begins on the new moon or the full moon and is the fifth month of the year. Srabon is the fourth month of the solar Bengali calendar. It is also the fourth month of the Nepali calendar. Śrāvaṇa is also the second month of Varsha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tihar (festival)</span> Nepali festival of flowers and lights

Tihar is a five-day spiritual and cultural Hindu festival of lights celebrated by Nepalese as well as by the Indian Gorkhas inhabiting Sikkim state and Territories. Tihar is analogous to the Indian festival of Diwali, the festival of lights, but both are different Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharad Purnima</span> Hindu lunar harvest festival

Sharad Purnima is a religious festival celebrated on the full moon day of the Hindu lunar month of Ashvin, marking the end of the monsoon season. The full moon night is celebrated in different ways in various cultural regions across Indian subcontinent.

Kolkata has many festivals throughout the year. The largest and most magnificently celebrated festival of the city is Durga Puja, and it features colourful pandals, decorative idols of Hindu goddess Durga and her family, lighting decorations and fireworks. Other major festivals are Diwali, Kali Puja, Holi, Saraswati Puja, Poush Parbon, Poila Boishakh, Christmas, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dashain</span> Regional Hindu festival

Dashain or Bada'dashain, also referred as Vijaya Dashami in Sanskrit, is a major Hindu religious festival in Nepal and the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam, South India, and Sri Lanka. It is also celebrated by other religions of Nepal and elsewhere in the world, including among the Lhotshampa of Bhutan and the Burmese Gurkhas of Myanmar. The festival is also referred as Nauratha, derived from the Sanskrit word for the same festival Navaratri which translates to Nine Nights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kārtika (month)</span> Eighth month of the Hindu lunar calendar

Kārtika is the eighth month of the Hindu calendar, which falls in October and November of the Gregorian calendar. In India's national civil calendar, Kartika is the seventh month of the year, beginning on 23 October and ending on 21 November.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lakshmi Puja</span> Deepavali occasion dedicated to the goddess Lakshmi

Lakshmi Puja or Lokkhi Pujo is a Hindu occasion for the veneration of Lakshmi, the Goddess of Prosperity and the Supreme Goddess of Vaishnavism. The occasion is celebrated on the amavasya in the Vikram Samvat Hindu calendar month of Ashwayuja or Kartika, on the third day of Deepavali (Tihar) in Nepal and most parts of India. In Odisha, Assam, Bengal this puja is celebrated five days after Vijaya Dashami.

Tokha Chandeshwari is a village and former Village Development Committee that is now part of Tokha Municipality in Kathmandu District in Province No. 3 of central Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 3,961. Tokha Chandeshwari now is part of Tokha municipality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kali Puja</span> Hindu festival dedicated to the goddess Kali

Kali Puja, also known as Shyama Puja or Mahanisha Puja, is a festival originating from the Indian subcontinent, dedicated to the Hindu goddess Kali. It is celebrated on the new moon day of the Hindu calendar month of Ashwayuja or Kartika. The festival is especially popular in the region of West Bengal, and other places like Mithila, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, and Tripura, as well as the town of Titwala in Maharashtra, along with the neighbouring country of Bangladesh.

Punjabi festivals are various festive celebrations observed by the Punjabis, originating in the Punjab region. The Punjabis are religiously a diverse and that affects the festivals they observe. According to a 2007 estimate, a total of ∼75% percent of the Punjabi population is Muslim, accounting about 90 million people, with 97% of Punjabis who live in Pakistan following Islam, in contrast to the remaining 30 million Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus who predominantly live in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dvitiya</span> Second day of a lunar fortnight in the Hindu calendar

Dvitiya also referred to as Beej and Dooj is the Sanskrit word for "second", and is the second day of the lunar fortnight (Paksha) of the Hindu calendar. Each Hindu month has two dvitiya days, being the second day of the "bright" (Shukla) and of the "dark" (Krishna) fortnights respectively. Dvitiya occurs on the second and the seventeenth day of each month.

Here is a list of glossary of culture of India in alphabetical order:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bemetara district</span> District of Chhattisgarh in India

Bemetara district is a new district in the state of Chhattisgarh, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swanti (festival)</span> Five-day Newari festival of Nepal

Swanti is a five-day festival of Nepal which is one of the year's greatest celebrations for the Newar people. It is the Newar version of Tihar or Diwali. The festival highlights the central role of women in the household, and the rituals are related to wishing for good fortune of the family members by presenting them auspicious items and praying for longevity by placating the god of death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kukur Tihar</span> Hindu festival honouring dogs

Kukur Tihar is an annual Hindu festival originating from Nepal which falls on the second day of the festival of Tihar. The second day of Tihar, called Kukur Tihar, is dedicated to the worship of dogs. On this day, people worship dogs to please Yama, the god of death, as they are considered to be his messengers. Dogs are decorated with tilaka and wear flower garlands around their necks. Worshippers offer them various foods including meat, milk, eggs, and dog food. It is considered a sin if someone acts disrespectfully to a dog on this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bharatiya Mandir Hindu Temple</span> Hindu temple in New Zealand

Bharatiya Mandir is a Hindu temple in the Auckland suburb of Sandringham. It is the oldest and first purpose-built temple in New Zealand and officially opened in June 1993.

References

  1. "Bhai Dooj 2020 date, time and significance". The Times of India. November 15, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  2. "भाई-बहन के परस्पर प्रेम और स्नेह का प्रतीक भाई दूज". Dainik Jagran (in Hindi). Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  3. "Bhai Dooj 2018 Date in India: When is Bhai Dooj in 2018". The Indian Express. 2018-11-09. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  4. "Happy Bhai Dooj 2020: Wishes, greetings, messages, quotes, SMS, WhatsApp and Facebook status to share on 'Bhai Tika'". Jagran English. 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  5. "Bhai Dooj 2020: This Bhai Dooj, Celebrate With These Amazing Gifts For Your Brother Or Sister". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  6. "Bhai Dooj 2020: Date, time and significance of festival; all you need to know". Firstpost. 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  7. "Bhai Dooj 2020: Know all about the history, significance and celebrations of Yama Dwitiya here". Hindustan Times. 2020-11-16. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
  8. "Bhai Dooj Puja 2019: How to do puja on Bhai Dooj, Puja vidhi and Timings". The Times of India. 21 October 2019. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
  9. "How to Celebrate Bhai Dooj with Your Brother - Ferns N Petals". Ferns N Petals. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  10. "Bhai-Tika / Bhai-Teeka". diwalifestival.org. Society for the Confluence of Festivals in India. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  11. McDermott, Rachel Fell (2011), Revelry, Rivalry, and Longing for the Goddesses of Bengal: The Fortunes of Hindu Festivals, Columbia University Press, p. 63, ISBN   978-0-231-52787-3