| Bhai Dooj | |
|---|---|
| Also called | Bhai Tika, Bhau Beej, Bhai Phonta, Bhratri Dwitiya |
| Observed by | Hindus |
| Type | Religious |
| Significance | Honours brother and sister's love, connection, and togetherness |
| Date | Kartika 2 (amanta tradition) Kartika 17 (purnimanta tradition) |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Explanatory note on Hindu festival dates | |
|---|---|
TheHindu 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) andtithi (lunar day). 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 (Also known as, Bhai Tika, Bhaubeej, Bhai Beej, Bhai Phonta or Bhratri Dwitiya) is a festival celebrated byHindus on the second lunar day of theShukla Paksha (bright fortnight) ofKartika, the eighth month of theVikram Samvat Hindu calendar or the Shalivahana Shaka calendar. It is celebrated during theDiwali orTihar festival andHoli festival. The celebrations of this day are similar to the festival ofRaksha Bandhan.
In the southern part of India, the day is celebrated asYama Dwitiya.[2] 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 is also followed, a dry coconut (named gola in regional language) withklewa[clarification needed] tied along its width for worshipping is also used at the time of doingaarti of a brother.[3] In Bengal, the day is celebrated as Bhai Phota, which comes one day after Kali Puja.
The festival is known as:
According toHindu religion, after slaying the evildemonNarakasura, LordKrishna visited his sisterSubhadra who gave him a warm welcome with sweets and flowers. She also affectionately appliedtilaka on Krishna's forehead. Some believe this to be the origin of the festival.
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 andcentral India. The whole ceremony signifies the duty of a brother to protect his sister, as well as a sister's blessings for her brother.[6]
Carrying forward the ceremony in a traditional style, sisters performarti for their brother and apply a redtika on the brother's forehead. Thistika ceremony on the occasion of Bhai Bij signifies the sister's sincerest prayers for the long and happy life of her brother and they treat them with gifts. In return, elder brothers bless their sisters and may treat them also with gifts or cash.
As it is customary inHaryana andMaharashtra to celebrate the auspicious occasion of Bhau-beej, women who do not have a brother worship the MoonChandra instead. They applymehendi on girls as their tradition. The sister whose brother lives far away from her and cannot go to her house, sends her sincerest prayers for the long and happy life of her brother through the moon god. She performsaarti for the Moon. This is the reason why children of Hindu parents affectionately call the MoonChandamama (Chanda means moon andmama means mother's brother).
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Bhai Phonta inWest 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.[7]
The festival of Bhai Bij is popular inHaryana,Gujarat,Maharashtra andGoa 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.[8]
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 calledbasundipoori orkheerni poori.[9]On this occasion, brothers and sisters exchange gifts. And both of them pray for their long and happy life.[10]
Bhai Tika inNepal is also known asBhai Tihar meaningTihar (festival) of brothers. On this day, sisters pray toYamraj for a long life and prosperity for their brothers.[11] 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 theGomphrena globosa flower is made by the sister as an offering to their brothers.
Rachel Fell McDermott, Professor of Asian Studies at Columbia University, describesRabindranath Tagore'srakhi-bandhan ceremonies, inspired by the Bhai Dooj ritual, which were organized to protest the1905 Partition of Bengal
In 1905 Rabindranath Tagore extended the symbolism ofBrother'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.[12]
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