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BHAI DOOJ-Festival of Bonding between brother and sister

VK GUPTA. Dated: 11/9/2018 11:46:37 AM

On BhaiDooj, women invite their brothers home and apply 'teeka' or 'tilak' on their foreheads and offer prayers to the Gods while their brothers present them with gifts in return.BhaiDooj is a Hindu festival which celebrates the love between a brother and sister. On the occasion of BhaiDooj, women pray to the Gods for long and prosperous lives for their brothers. It is celebrated two days after Diwali. This year, BhaiDooj will be celebrated on November 9.On BhaiDooj, women invite their brothers home and apply 'teeka' or 'tilak' on their foreheads and offer prayers to the Gods while their brothers present them with gifts in return.
The festival, which shares similarities with RakshaBandhan, is known by various names in different parts of India.
BhaiDooj is a festival celebrated by Hindus of the Indian subcontinent,after Diwali festival. The celebrations of this day are similar to the festival of RakshaBandhan. On this day, brothers get gifts from sisters. According to a popular legend in Hindu mythology, 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.
On the day of the festival, sisters invite their brothers for a sumptuous meal often including their favorite 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.
Carrying forward the ceremony in traditional style, sisters perform aarti for their brother and apply a red tika on the brother's forehead. This tika ceremony on the occasion of Bhaidooj signifies the sister's sincerest prayers for the long and happy life of her brother and treat them with gifts. In return, brothers bless their sisters and may treat them also with gifts or cash.women who do not have a brother worship the moon god instead. They apply mehandi 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. The ceremony is marked with many rituals along with a grand feast arranged for the brothers.It is celebrated with great fervour and gaiety. Brothers and sisters look forward to the occasion with immense enthusiasm. To add charm to the occasion, gifts are exchanged between brothers and sisters as a token of love and appreciation. It 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 theBhaiDooj festival. The majority of Hindu festivals and rituals put stress on the significance of family bonding and relationships. Although every relationship possesses its own value, but the brother-sister relationship is quite unique and unmatched. Hindu culture has manifested the greatness and glory of this relationship in many forms, out of which BhaiDooj festival is an eminent form. The God of Death also declared that any brother who would receive an 'aarti' and 'tilak' from his sister on this day should never be afraid of death.This story is the reason why the festival is celebrated as Yama Dwitiya in some parts of the country. The most important ritual of the celebration of BhaiDooj is the aarti and tika ceremony. On the day of BhaiDooj sister firstly puts does the aarti of her brother with the holy flame and does the tika on her forehead and then she prays to God for his long and healthy life. This is the way of expressing care and love to brother by a sister. In this return, sisters get a token of love from brothers. It’s a BhaiDoojgift.This is how the amazing festival of BhaiyaDooj is celebrated in India by every Brother and sister of India. On BhaiyaDooj, sisters pray for their brothers to have long and happy lives by performing Tika ceremony and brothers offer gifts to their sisters. BhaiyaDooj is also known as BhauBeej and BhathruDwithiya.BhaiDooj is known by various names in different parts of the country like BhauBeej, BhaiTeeka or BhaiPhota. The festival is very similar to RakshaBandhan, as it celebrates the love between a brother and sister.
Another popular origin story for the festival is that Lord Krishna's sister Subhadra welcomed him with an aarti, tilak, sweets and flowers after he killed the demon king Narakasur. According to the Hindu mythology and astrology, timing does have an important role in the celebration of any special occasion. In order to attain the blessings of the Gods and Goddesses, people need to celebrate special days at the appropriate timings to ward off the influence of evil and negative power. This appropriate timing for the celebration of an occasion is depicted by the Panchang, the old Hindu calendar that is based on VikramSamvat era. Here are the crucial details related to the special occasion.The essence of the Bhaidooj festival is that it is celebrated to strengthen the love between brothers and sisters. It is a day of food-sharing, gift-giving and reaching out to the innermost depths of the heart. Brothers and sisters indulge themselves on this day by giving each other gifts. In the present context, we can say that BhaiDooj will remain significant and consequential in the Indian culture as ever, in the years to come. So traditionally, all brothers visit their sisters on this day and give them gifts. Sisters too, pray for their brothers' long life and good health, and general well-being. Lord Krishna, after killing Narakasur, the asura king, went to meet his sister Subhadra. Subhadra welcomed him in the traditional way by performing aarti and putting a tilak on his forehead to welcome him home.BhaiDooj in entire Northern part of India is observed after the Diwali festival. In the southern part of the country, the day is celebrated as Yama Dwitiya.In Haryana, basically, a special ritual also followed, a dry coconut (named as gola in regional language) with klewa tied along its width for worshipping is also used at the time of doing aarti of your brother.