Bhai Dooj or Bhai Duj
About
Bhai Dooj festival ....The
fifth and final day of diwali festival is known by the
name of Bhayya Dooj in the hindi-speaking belt, Bhai
Phot in Bengal, Bhav Beej in the marathi-speaking
communities and in Nepal by the name of Bhai Tika.
After
the diwali celebrations, sisters get ready for the most
awaited 'Bhai Dooj' - when sisters ceremonize their love
by putting an auspicious tilak or a vermilion mark on
the forehead of their brothers and waves an aarti, she
wishes him lot of love and protection from evil forces.
Sisters are lavished with gifts, goodies and blessings
from their brothers.
As
the legend goes Yamraj, the god of death visited his
sister Yamuna on this particular
Bhai dooj day. She put the
auspicious tilak on his forehead, garlanded him and feed
him with special dishes and sweets, they spoke to each
other and enjoyed themselves. While parting Yamraj gave
her a special gift as a token of his love and in return
Yami also gave him a lovely gift which she had made with
her own hands. That Bhai dooj day Yamraj announced that anyone who
receives tilak from his sister will never be thrown.
Therefore this Bhai dooj day of Bhayya Dooj is also known by the
name of "YAMA-DWITIYA" Since then this day is being
observed as a symbol of love between sisters and
brothers. It became also imperative for the brother to
go to his sister's house to celebrate Bhai Dooj.
Lord
Krishna, after slaying the Narakasura demon, goes to his
sister Subhadra who welcomes him with the lamp, flowers
and sweets, she puts the holy protective tika on her
brother's forehead and waves her aarti.
Yet
another story behind the origin of Bhai Dooj says that
when Mahavir, the founder of Jainism, attained nirvana,
his brother King Nandivardhan was distressed because he
missed him and was comforted by his sister Sudarshana.
The
celebrating of this Bhai dooj day has its own importance in
continuing to maintain the love between brothers and
sisters for it is the day of food-sharing, gift-giving
and reaching out to the inner most depths of the hearts.
