Punekars celebrated Diwali with festive fervor and religious zeal. The road side shops, homes, apartment buildings, are all decorated with lights. The celebrations are not yet over as the citizens celebrate the festival of Bhai Dooj, a festival that falls on the third day of Laxmi Pujan.

The festival is somewhat similar to that of Rakshabadhan; the sisters tie a sacred thread on their brothers’ wrist and put vermillion mark or Tilak on their forehead. They wish that the vermillion mark and the thread will protect them from evil and pray to God for their wellbeing. The sisters go to their brother’s house to celebrate this festival. In some families, the brothers go to their sister’s house for the festival. They give a gift to their sisters as a token of their love. It is a time for families to come together to celebrate together and strengthen their bonds of love.

Nishit Kulkarni, an engineer working for a software company in Bangalore says that he eagerly waits for this day as much as he waits for the Diwali festival. He came to Pune to celebrate Diwali and also to go to his sister’s house in Mumbai. “Every year I come to Pune to celebrate Diwali with my family and on Bhai Dooj, I go to my sister’s house. Two of my cousins also join us; my brother-in-law’s sisters also come there for the festival. The two families come together to celebrate the occasion. Although we may not get time to meet each other so frequently, we make it a point to celebrate this festival together.”

So the festival is more about strengthening bonds between the families, especially between brothers and sisters. There are many names by which this festival is known: Bhaiya Dooj, Bhau Beej, Bhai Tika, Bhai Pota, Yama Dwitiya, and Bhathru Dwitiya. There are many mythological stories associated with this festival:

• Yamraj, the God of death went to visit his sister Yami after a very long time. She gave him a very warm welcome; she put vermillion mark on his forehead and prayed for his wellbeing. Yama was so pleased with this welcome that he declared that this day every year, shall be celebrated as bhai dooj and the sisters who perform the ritual of putting the vermillion mark on their brothers’ forehead will be protected from the evils.
• After killing the demon Narakasur, Lord Krishna went to meet his sister Subhadra. She welcomed him with an aarti and put a tika on his forehead.
• Many people say that Sudarshana comforted his brother Raja Nandivardhan on this day. He was sad because his brother Lord Mahavir had got nirvana. So women are revered during this festival.

The festival of Diwali is quite incomplete without the celebrations of Bhai Dooj. As this year Bhai Dooj falls on a Friday many have already made plans to go out for a holiday and chill out along with the Diwali celebrations.