Ganesh mantra
ॐ गं गणपतये नमः
Om Gam Ganapataye Namah
Meaning: Om, gam: salutation to Ganapati, lord of the ganas.
When and how: Once or 11 times when the lamp is lit, before the tilak.
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Shukla paksha · Kartika · amanta reckoning
When is Bhai Dooj 2026?
Wed, 11 Nov
Bhai Dooj 2026 is on Wednesday, 11 November. The tilak time in New Delhi is 1:09 PM to 3:19 PM.
2027: Sunday, 31 October 2027
Bhai Dooj tilak time
1:09 PM – 3:19 PM
Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj · New Delhi
Diwali 2026, day by day
- Dhanteras Puja muhurat 6:02 PM to 7:58 PM
- Narak Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali) Abhyang snan 5:36 AM to 6:37 AM
- Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) Lakshmi Puja 5:54 PM to 7:50 PM
- Kali Puja
- Muhurat Trading Session hour not yet notified
- Govardhan Puja Morning puja 6:39 AM to 8:49 AM
- Bhai Dooj Tilak time 1:09 PM to 3:19 PM
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Wednesday, 11 November 2026
| Timing | New Delhi | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Bhai Dooj tilak time | 1:09 PM to 3:19 PM | Aparahna, the afternoon fifth of the day, while Dwitiya runs. |
Bhai Dooj is not a Gregorian date. It is Shukla paksha tithi 2 of Kartika in the amanta reckoning, and the Gregorian day it lands on moves by up to a month between years because twelve lunations fall about eleven days short of a solar year.
- Tithi
- Dwitiya, Shukla paksha
- Lunar month
- Kartika (amanta)
- Tithi begins
- 10 Nov, 2:01 PM
- Tithi ends
- 11 Nov, 3:54 PM
- Decided at
- Aparahna (afternoon)
- Aparahna in New Delhi
- 11 Nov, 2:14 PM
Aparahna in New Delhi falls at 2:14 PM on that day, and that is the instant the tithi has to be running at for the day to carry the observance. It is computed for this city rather than assumed, because it is what decides the date.
The two instants above are the astronomy and are not in dispute. The day is an interpretation of them: this observance is decided at aparahna, so it belongs to the day whose aparahna the tithi carries — not simply to the day the tithi begins.
Bhai Dooj, also called Yama Dwitiya, closes the five days of Diwali: sisters apply a tilak to their brothers, pray for their long life and feed them, as Yamuna once fed her brother Yama. In New Delhi it falls on Wednesday, 11 November 2026, and the tilak muhurat is 1:09 PM to 3:19 PM, the afternoon window while Dwitiya runs. It is Bhau Beej in Maharashtra, Bhai Phonta in Bengal and Bhai Tika in Nepal.
| Muhurat | Time in New Delhi | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Bhai Dooj tilak muhurat | 1:09 PM to 3:19 PMAparahna, the fourth fifth of the day, while Dwitiya runs. | Aparahna, the afternoon fifth of the day, while Dwitiya runs. The dharmashastra rule for Yama Dwitiya puts the tilak and the brother's meal at the sister's home in this window, as Yama came to Yamuna's house. |
| Auspicious choghadiya (day) |
| The day's Amrit, Shubh, Labh and Chal choghadiyas. Families who cannot meet in the afternoon usually choose one of these, while Dwitiya still runs. |
Auspicious windows that day
| Window | Time in New Delhi | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Amrit Kaal | 4:32 AM to 6:19 AM | Most Auspicious |
| Brahma Muhurat | 4:54 AM to 5:47 AM | Auspicious |
Windows usually worked around
These are the spans classical muhurta sets aside for beginnings. They are descriptions of a convention, not warnings: the observance is kept on its day regardless, and nothing here needs to be bought, corrected or remedied.
| Window | Time in New Delhi |
|---|---|
| Rahu Kaal | 12:05 PM to 1:26 PM |
| Yamaganda Kaal | 8:01 AM to 9:22 AM |
| Durmuhurta First | 11:43 AM to 12:26 PM |
| Varjyam | 5:51 PM to 7:38 PM |
Every time above is computed for New Delhi around Wednesday, 11 November 2026, from the sunrise, sunset and the positions of the Sun and Moon for this city. The Vedic day runs sunrise to sunrise, so a window whose clock time falls after midnight still belongs to the evening before; a time on another date carries that date.
The sister's morning
The sister bathes early and, as many do, keeps a fast until the tilak. The brother comes to her home for the day, as Yama went to Yamuna's.
Make the chowk
Draw a small square (chowk) with rice flour on the floor and set a low stool on it, where the brother will sit facing east or north.
Prepare the thali
On a plate set roli, rice, a ghee lamp, sweets, a dry coconut (gola), a betel leaf with supari, flowers, mauli and a little water.
Remember Ganesh, Yama and Yamuna
Light the lamp and worship Ganesh, then offer a flower and rice in the name of Yama and Yamuna, praying for the brother's long and healthy life. Many sisters say a folk verse naming Ganga and Yamuna, Yami and Yama, Subhadra and Krishna.
The tilak
In the tilak muhurat, with the brother's head covered with a handkerchief as many families do, apply a tilak of roli on his forehead and press a few grains of rice onto it.
Mauli and aarti
Tie mauli on his right wrist where it is the custom, wave the lamp before him in aarti, and offer him sweets and the gola.
Blessings and gifts
The brother touches his elder sister's feet or blesses a younger one, and gives her a gift and his promise of support.
The meal
The sister serves a meal she has cooked, saying the Yama Dwitiya verse, and the brother eats at her home. The sister breaks her fast after he has eaten.
Close the festival
With the meal Diwali's five days end. Families in Mathura bathe together in the Yamuna, and Kayastha families worship Chitragupta with pen and ink on the same day.
- A thali Brass, steel or any clean plate for the tilak items.
- Roli or kumkum For the tilak; sandalwood paste in Bengal's Bhai Phonta.
- Akshat (whole rice) Pressed onto the tilak.
- A ghee lamp For the aarti of the brother.
- Sweets Homemade, or the brother's favourite.
- Dry coconut (gola) Given to the brother in many North Indian homes as a sign of long life and plenty.
- Betel leaf and supari Placed on the thali; given with the gola.
- Mauli (kalava) Tied on the brother's wrist where it is the custom.
- Flowers For the worship and for the brother.
- Water in a small lota For achaman and the worship.
- A low stool or chowki For the brother to sit on.
- Rice flour For drawing the chowk.
- A handkerchief or cap Many brothers cover their head during the tilak.
- The meal Rice, dal, a vegetable, puri, kheer or the brother's favourite dishes.
- Kajal and curd Part of the Bhai Phonta mark in Bengal.
- Paddy and durva Bengal's blessing, placed on the brother's head.
Yama Dwitiya verse (the sister's meal)
भ्रातस्तवानुजाताहं भुङ्क्ष्व भक्तमिदं शुभम् ।
प्रीतये यमराजस्य यमुनाया विशेषतः ॥
Bhratas tavanujataham bhunkshva bhaktam idam shubham
Pritaye Yamarajasya Yamunaya visheshatah
Meaning: Brother, I am your younger sister: eat this auspicious food, for the pleasure of Yamaraja and above all of Yamuna.
When and how: Said by the sister as she serves the meal after the tilak. An elder sister says tavagrajataham, I am your elder sister. The verse is quoted for Yama Dwitiya in the dharmashastra digests.
Mahamrityunjaya mantra
ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम् ।
उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्मृत्योर्मुक्षीय माऽमृतात् ॥
Om tryambakam yajamahe sugandhim pushtivardhanam
Urvarukam iva bandhanan mrityor mukshiya ma'mritat
Meaning: We worship the three-eyed one, fragrant, who increases nourishment. As a ripe cucumber is freed from its stem, may he free us from death, and not from immortality.
When and how: From the Rigveda; many sisters chant it 11 or 108 times as a prayer for the brother's long and healthy life.
The katha
Yama, lord of death, and his twin sister Yami, the river Yamuna, were children of Surya, the Sun, and his wife Sanjna. Yamuna loved her brother dearly and kept asking him to visit her, but Yama, busy with his duties, put it off year after year.
At last, on the second day of the bright fortnight of Kartika, he came. Overjoyed, Yamuna welcomed him, applied a tilak to his forehead, worshipped him and fed him a meal she had cooked herself. Pleased, Yama asked her to choose a boon, and she asked that every brother who visits his sister on this day, accepts her tilak and eats at her home be blessed with a long life. Yama granted it, and the day became Yama Dwitiya.
Popular tradition tells a second story: after killing Narakasura, Krishna went to his sister Subhadra, who welcomed him with lamps, flowers and sweets and put a tilak on his forehead. Both stories end the same way, with a sister's welcome and a brother's blessing.
Why it is kept
Bhai Dooj honours the bond of brothers and sisters: the sister prays for her brother's long life and well-being, and the brother promises her his support. Because Yama himself blessed the custom, the day is also called Yama Dwitiya, and it closes the five days of Diwali that began with Dhanteras.
The brother goes to the sister's home, often a married sister's, so the day also keeps families connected after marriage. In Kayastha families it is Chitragupta Puja, when the keeper of Yama's records is worshipped with pen and ink.
Tilak in the afternoon
Apply the tilak in the aparahna window while Dwitiya runs, as the dharmashastra rule for Yama Dwitiya asks; it is the moment tradition ties to Yama's visit.
Eat at the sister's home
The brother eats a meal his sister has cooked. Yama's boon is tied to this meal, which is why it matters more than any gift.
A prayer for long life
The sister chants the Mahamrityunjaya mantra 11 or 108 times for her brother's health, in addition to the tilak.
Yamuna snan
Brothers and sisters who can, bathe together in the Yamuna at Mathura's Vishram Ghat and visit the Yama-Yamuna temple there; a dip in any river or a bath with a drop of Ganga jal keeps the spirit of it.
Give with the blessing
The brother gives his sister a gift within his means and a promise of support. Tradition values the visit and the words more than the price.
Remember those far away
A sister whose brother cannot come keeps the tilak thali, prays for him and sends sweets or the mark of roli; many families now do the tilak over a video call.
Do
- The brother goes to his sister's home and eats there.
- Apply the tilak in the afternoon muhurat while Dwitiya runs.
- Seat the brother on a chowk or stool, facing east or north.
- Keep the fast till the tilak if it is your custom, and break it after the brother eats.
- The brother gives a gift and his blessing.
- Remember Yama and Yamuna in the prayer.
Don't
- Do not quarrel or speak harshly on the day.
- Do not let the brother leave without eating at the sister's home.
- Do not hurry the tilak into an inauspicious period such as Rahu Kaal if you can avoid it; the panchang lists it.
- Do not compare gifts; the custom is about the visit, not the value.
- Many families keep the meal vegetarian; respect the custom of the house.
By region
- North India
- Bhaiya Dooj: the brother sits with his head covered, the sister applies tilak, gives him a gola and sweets and feeds him; she often fasts till then.
- Mathura
- Brothers and sisters bathe together in the Yamuna at Vishram Ghat and visit the temple of Yama and Yamuna.
- Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka
- Bhau Beej: the sister performs an aarti of her brother on a low stool and serves a festive meal; girls without a brother perform the aarti of the Moon.
- West Bengal
- Bhai Phonta: the sister draws a mark of sandalwood, kajal and curd on her brother's forehead with her little finger, chanting that thorns fall at Yama's door, and blesses him with paddy and durva before a feast.
- Nepal
- Bhai Tika, the last day of Tihar: the sister applies a seven-coloured tika and a garland of makhamali flowers, and the brother gives her gifts.
- Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh
- Sisters gather around a cow-dung figure for Godhan kutai, an old ritual that ends in prayers for their brothers' long life; Kayastha families keep Chitragupta Puja.
- Gujarat
- Bhai Bij: the brother visits his sister, receives tilak and a meal, and gives her a gift.
Bhog, prasad and fasting food
- The sister's meal Rice, dal, vegetables and puri, or the brother's favourites, cooked by her.
- Kheer A festive sweet for the meal.
- Gola and sweets Dry coconut and mithai on the tilak thali.
- Basundi-puri (Maharashtra) The classic Bhau Beej meal.
- Luchi and mishti (Bengal) The Bhai Phonta feast.
Two years back, this year, and two ahead. Past years are kept rather than dropped so you can check the engine against a calendar you already have.
| Year | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Sunday, 3 November 2024 | past |
| 2025 | Thursday, 23 October 2025 | past |
| 2026This year | Wednesday, 11 November 2026 | upcoming |
| 2027 | Sunday, 31 October 2027 | upcoming |
| 2028 | Thursday, 19 October 2028 | upcoming |
Every row is computed for New Delhi from the same ephemeris, not looked up. Sunrise decides which day a tithi names, and sunrise differs across India by more than an hour, so a date computed for Delhi can be a day out elsewhere.
There is no single authority that settles a Hindu festival date, and the divergence is genuine rather than sloppy. Three causes account for almost all of it.
- A tithi rarely starts at sunrise. One that is running at the deciding moment on two days — or on none — is claimed by both days under different rules.
- Month reckoning. North India runs purnimanta, the south and west amanta. The same dark fortnight carries different month names in the two, so an observance defined as "krishna X of month Y" can land a full lunation apart.
- Which moment decides. Most vratas belong to the day whose sunrise carries the tithi, but not all: this one is decided at aparahna. Almanacs that apply the sunrise rule to everything move several festivals by a day.
So this page shows its working. If your pandit or your family almanac gives a different day, the instants above will usually show you exactly why — and that is more useful than a date asserted without one.
Common questions
When is Bhai Dooj?
Wednesday, 11 November 2026. It is Dwitiya of Shukla paksha in Kartika, and that tithi runs from 10 Nov, 2:01 PM to 11 Nov, 3:54 PM.
When is Bhai Dooj after Diwali in 2026?
Wed 11 Nov, three days after Diwali's Lakshmi Puja (Sun 8 Nov) and the day after Govardhan Puja (Tue 10 Nov). It is the last of Diwali's five days.
Why does another calendar give a different Bhai Dooj date?
Three honest reasons. The tithi can be running at the deciding moment on two days or on none. North India reckons the month purnimanta and the south and west amanta, which names the same krishna fortnight differently. And almanacs differ on which moment of the day decides an observance. The instants above are the astronomy; the day is an interpretation of them.
What is the Bhai Dooj muhurat in New Delhi?
In New Delhi on Wednesday, 11 November 2026 the tilak muhurat is 1:09 PM to 3:19 PM: aparahna, the afternoon fifth of the day, while Dwitiya runs. That is the classical time for Yama Dwitiya. If the family can only meet earlier or later, choose an auspicious choghadiya of the day (Labh: 6:40 AM to 8:01 AM; Amrit: 8:01 AM to 9:22 AM; Shubh: 10:43 AM to 12:05 PM; Chal: 2:47 PM to 4:08 PM; Labh: 4:08 PM to 5:29 PM) while Dwitiya still runs.
How is the Bhai Dooj tilak done?
Seat the brother facing east or north on a stool over a rice-flour chowk, his head covered. Light a ghee lamp, remember Ganesh, Yama and Yamuna, apply a tilak of roli with a few grains of rice, tie mauli where it is the custom, perform his aarti and give him sweets and a gola. He gives a gift and eats the meal his sister has cooked.
What goes in the Bhai Dooj thali?
Roli or kumkum, whole rice, a ghee lamp, sweets, a dry coconut (gola), a betel leaf with supari, flowers, mauli and a little water. In Bengal the Bhai Phonta plate also carries sandalwood paste, kajal, curd, paddy and durva grass.
What is the story of Bhai Dooj?
Yamuna kept inviting her brother Yama, lord of death, to her home. On Kartika Shukla Dwitiya he finally came; she applied a tilak, worshipped him and fed him. Pleased, he granted her wish that every brother who visits his sister on this day and eats at her home be blessed with a long life. Popular tradition also tells of Krishna visiting Subhadra after killing Narakasura.
Why is Bhai Dooj celebrated?
It celebrates the love of brothers and sisters: sisters pray for their brothers' long life and well-being and brothers promise their support. The custom comes from Yama's visit to his sister Yamuna, which is why the day is also called Yama Dwitiya. It closes the five days of Diwali.
Who goes to whose house, and who gives the gift on Bhai Dooj?
The brother goes to his sister's home, as Yama went to Yamuna's, and eats the meal she cooks. The sister gives the tilak, sweets and, in North India, a gola; the brother gives her a gift and his blessing. If the sister lives with her brother's family, the ritual simply happens at home.
What is Bhai Dooj called in West Bengal and other states?
West Bengal calls it Bhai Phonta and Bhratri Dwitiya, Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka Bhau Beej, Gujarat Bhai Bij, and Nepal Bhai Tika, the last day of Tihar. North India calls it Bhai Dooj or Bhaiya Dooj, and the scriptures Yama Dwitiya.
Which mantra is said during the Bhai Dooj tilak?
Begin with Om Gam Ganapataye Namah. While serving the meal, the sister says the Yama Dwitiya verse, Bhratas tavanujataham, asking her brother to eat for the pleasure of Yama and Yamuna. Many sisters also chant the Mahamrityunjaya mantra for his long life. The texts and meanings are in the mantra section.
Should sisters fast on Bhai Dooj?
It is a custom, not a rule. Many sisters eat nothing from the morning until they have applied the tilak and fed their brother, then break the fast with the same meal. Those who are unwell, pregnant or elderly can keep the day without fasting.
Why do sisters give a dry coconut (gola) on Bhai Dooj?
In many North Indian homes the gola, a whole dry coconut, is given with sweets after the tilak. A coconut is an auspicious offering in every puja, a sign of plenty and of a long, full life, so the sister gives it as a blessing for her brother.
Is there a Bhai Dooj after Holi too?
Yes. In parts of North India a second Bhai Dooj is kept on Chaitra Krishna Dwitiya, the second day after Holi's full moon, with the same tilak and meal. The Diwali Bhai Dooj, Kartika Shukla Dwitiya, is the main one.
What if a sister has no brother, or the brother is far away?
In Maharashtra girls without a brother perform the aarti of the Moon, and many sisters apply tilak to a cousin or a brother-like friend. When the brother is far away, the sister can keep the thali, pray for him and send sweets; many families now do the tilak over a video call.
Is there an aarti for Bhai Dooj?
There is no separate scriptural aarti for the day. The sister waves the lit lamp in circles before her brother as his aarti, and some families sing a Krishna or Yamuna aarti or a Bhai Dooj song while doing it.