Bhai Tika Festival The second day of the bright fortnight of Kartika, the last of the five Diwali days, kept between brother and sister.
The name
The same day, written in each of the six scripts this app keeps
- English
- Bhai Tika
- नेपाली
- भाइटीका
Only the names actually in use are listed. A blank script is not an omission: the day may simply not be kept there, or be kept under a different festival's name.
UTC+5:30
The date of a festival depends on the place: a tithi that ends at dusk in Chennai can still be running at dusk a thousand kilometres west, which moves the day. Sunrise and sunset here are computed for the place above.
When it falls next
Looking for the calendar this day belongs to
This day does not fall again in the next three years at this place. A few days are tied to the solar month rather than to the civil year, so a year can hold two of them or none.
What the day is
The second day of the bright fortnight of Kartika, the last of the five Diwali days, kept between brother and sister. Yama went to his sister Yamuna on this day and she put a tilak on his forehead and fed him, and he gave her the boon that whoever is fed by his sister on it will not fear him; sisters repeat the tilak and the meal.
- Deity
- Yama, Yamuna
- Kind
- Festival Days of celebration: the house is decorated, a feast is cooked and the temple is visited.
The hour
The rule in words
Kartika Shukla Dwitiya at sunrise; the tilak is done during the day, before the meal.
The fast
Many sisters eat only after the tilak. The meal is the point of the day, not a fast.
Where the regions differ
Bhai Dooj in the north, Bhau Beej in Maharashtra, Bhai Phonta in Bengal and Yama Dwitiya elsewhere. Tamil Nadu keeps the sister and brother day as Kaanum Pongal in January instead. Nepal keeps it as Bhai Tika, the last of the five days of Tihar: a tika of seven colours down the forehead, a makhamali garland that does not wither, and a circle of mustard oil drawn round the brother to keep death outside it.
Every date here is computed from the Sun and Moon for the place entered, by the rule printed beside it. A printed panchangam can differ by a day where an almanac reads a tithi at a different instant, and a family's own custom always comes first. Where the practice genuinely varies, the text says so rather than choosing for you.