Bhai Dooj 2026
11 November 2026

Bhai Dooj falls on Kartik Shukla Dwitiya, the day after Govardhan Puja, and closes the Diwali festival. Its other name, Yama Dwitiya, comes from the story that Yama, lord of death, visited his sister Yamuna on this day after a long time. She fed him and put a tilak on his forehead, and, as tradition tells, he blessed every brother who would visit his sister on this day.

The day belongs to sisters and brothers. The sister often keeps a fast until the tilak, puts a tilak of roli and akshat on her brother’s forehead, does his aarti, and gives him a gola (dried coconut) and sweets; he gives her a gift and eats the meal she has cooked. In Mathura, brothers and sisters bathe together in the Yamuna at Vishram Ghat, as tradition holds.

• Roli and akshat (unbroken rice)
• Kalava (sacred thread)
• A ghee diya
• Gola (dried coconut)
• Sweets
• A few flowers
• A lota of water
• A clean low seat for the brother
• A gift for the sister

Source: Popular tradition of North India, told at the tilak

Yama and Yamuna were the children of Surya. Yamuna loved her brother dearly and asked him again and again to come to her home, but Yama, busy with his duties, kept putting it off.

At last Yama thought: everyone fears me and no one calls me to their home, yet my sister calls me with love. On Kartik Shukla Dwitiya he came to her. Yamuna was overjoyed. She welcomed him, put a tilak on his forehead, did his aarti and served him a meal she had cooked herself.

Pleased, Yama asked her to name a boon. She asked that he come to her every year on this day, and that any brother who visits his sister on this day and receives her tilak should have no fear of Yama. Yama granted it. Tradition adds that brothers and sisters who bathe in the Yamuna on this day are blessed, which is why Mathura’s ghats fill on Bhai Dooj.

What to do

• Do the tilak in the afternoon, while the Dwitiya still holds; when it ends is given at the top of this page.
• Cook the brother’s meal yourself if you can, since the day remembers Yamuna feeding Yama with her own hands.
• If the brother lives far away, keep the prayer for him at home and call him; the day is about the bond more than the place.
• Brothers, give your sister your time as well as a gift, since the day is about visiting her home.

What to avoid

• Many families hold that the brother should take the day’s meal at his sister’s home, so avoid planning it elsewhere.
• Avoid quarrels between brothers and sisters on this day, and settle old ones if you can; the day is kept for affection.

The day falls in the bright half, so the month is Kartik in both the Purnimanta and Amanta calendars. It is also called Bhaiya Dooj, Bhratri Dwitiya and Yama Dwitiya. In Maharashtra and Goa it is Bhau Beej. In Bengal it is Bhai Phonta, where the sister puts a phonta (dot) of sandalwood paste on her brother’s forehead and recites a rhyme asking Yama to keep away. In Nepal it is Bhai Tika, the last day of Tihar, with a tika of many colours and a garland of makhamali flowers.

The day is the one on which the Dwitiya holds at sunrise, read at each place’s own sunrise, and the tilak is done that day, best in the afternoon while the Dwitiya still runs. Because tithis run short or long, Bhai Dooj usually comes two days after Lakshmi Puja but sometimes three, and cities far apart can differ by a day.