When is Bhai Dooj?
The answer
Wednesday, 11 November 2026
The second of the bright fortnight.
Why that day
- The tithi it is
- Kartika Shukla 2
Read the ordinary way: the day whose SUNRISE this tithi is running at.
And after that
Sunday, 31 October 2027
Kartika Shukla 2
Thursday, 19 October 2028
Kartika Shukla 2
How this date is worked out
A festival is a position, not a date. The lunar month is named by the sidereal sign the Sun stands in at the new moon that opens it, and the tithi is the Moon's distance from the Sun in twelve-degree steps. Both come from the same ephemeris this site casts birth charts with.
North India reckons a month from full moon to full moon, so the dark fortnight carries the next month's name — the same day is Shravana Krishna Tritiya in Pune and Bhadrapada Krishna Tritiya in Delhi. These dates use the northern reckoning, and the tithi is printed above so there is nothing to take on trust.
Why it is kept
Kartika Shukla Dwitiya, two days after Diwali. It is the one festival where the sister calls the brother to her house rather than the brother going to give her something — that is what separates it from Raksha Bandhan. The reason is in the story: Yamuna called her brother Yama to eat after many years, and Yama gave the boon that a brother who eats at his sister's house today has no fear of untimely death. Hence the other name, Yama Dwitiya — and hence the rule that today the meal must be from the sister's own hand.
The story behind it
The invitation
Yamuna kept asking her brother Yama to come and eat, and he was always occupied and never came.
He comes
One day — Kartika Shukla Dwitiya — he came. Yamuna put the tilak on him, did the aarti, and fed him with her own hands.
The boon
Yama said: ask. She asked that any brother who goes to his sister's house today, takes the tilak and eats there, should have no fear of him.
Yama Dwitiya
He gave it. That is the day's other name, and why bathing in the Yamuna matters today.
The other story
In another, Krishna went to his sister Subhadra after killing Narakasura; she put the tilak on him, did the aarti and fed him sweets — and that is the custom.
What to keep ready
- Roli, rice, curd and sindoor for the tilak
- An aarti thali, a lamp and camphor
- A coconut, which the sister gives the brother
- Kalava
- Sweets, above all ones the sister has made
- Batasha and dry coconut
- A gift for the brother and one for the sister
- Water chestnut and seasonal fruit
How the puja is done
1
Bathing
Both bathe in the morning. Those near the Yamuna bathe in it — that comes straight out of the story.
2
Yama and Yamuna
Yama, Yamuna and Chitragupta are remembered before the puja. In some houses the sister first lights a lamp in Yama's name.
3
The seat
Seat the brother on a chowki with a square of rice drawn on it, facing north or north-west.
4
The tilak
The sister makes the tilak with roli, rice and curd, ties the kalava, does the aarti and gives the coconut.
5
The meal
The sister feeds him with her own hands. That is the act the whole boon rests on — sweets alone do not do it.
6
The gift
The brother gives a gift and his blessing. Anyone without a sister keeps it with a cousin, or with the river as sister.
What to do
- The brother goes to the sister's house and eats there — that is the rule. The sister going to his house is not this festival's custom.
- Seat him facing north or north-west for the tilak.
- The sister feeds him food she has cooked; the boon rests on that.
- Anyone without a sister may keep it with a cousin, or with the Yamuna as sister — the tradition allows it.
- Do the tilak in the muhurta; most panchangs give an afternoon window.
What not to do
- The brother eats nothing before the tilak.
- No sharp words between brother and sister today — that is the whole meaning of the day.
- He does not leave empty-handed, and the gift is not put off till later.
- Do not sit for the tilak in black.
- The coconut she gives is not thrown away — it stays in the house.
The aarti
Shri Yamuna Ji ki Aarti
ॐ जय यमुना माता, मैया जय यमुना माता।
धर्मराज की भगिनी, सूर्य पुत्री ख्याता॥
कालिंदी के कूल पर, कृष्ण रास रचायो।
नंदनंदन को पावन, तट पर नित पायो॥
यम ने तोहि वर दीनो, भ्रात-भगिनी हेतु।
जो नर तिलक कराए, ताहि न यम भय हेतु॥
श्याम रंग तव जल है, पाप विनाशन हारी।
जो जन तुझमें न्हाए, ताहि मुक्ति भारी॥
श्री यमुना जी की आरती, जो कोई नर गावे।
भ्रात-भगिनी का नाता, जनम-जनम निभावे॥
The sky has a calendar. So do you.
The same engine reads your own birth moment — every house, every graha, every period with dates.