2022
Wednesday, 26 October 2022
In 2022 the tithi runs from 2:42 pm on 26 Oct to 12:45 pm on 27 Oct. It reaches the aparahna on one day only (44 of its 134 minutes on 26 Oct), so that day is taken: Wednesday, 26 October 2022.
2023
Tuesday, 14 November 2023
In 2023 the tithi runs from 2:36 pm on 14 Nov to 1:47 pm on 15 Nov. It covers part of the aparahna on two days: 42 of its 129 minutes on 14 Nov and 38 of its 129 minutes on 15 Nov. By the rule, the day on which it covers more of that period is taken†: Tuesday, 14 November 2023.
How the date is fixed
Bhai Dooj falls on the second day of the bright half of the lunar month Kartika (Shukla Dwitiya). The date is the day whose aparahna, the early afternoon (the fourth of five equal parts of the daytime) the tithi covers completely. If it covers only part of it on two days, the day on which it covers more of that period is taken†.
† Practice varies between schools; our faculty is reviewing these rules.
About
Bhai Dooj falls on the second tithi of the bright half of Kartika, the second tithi after the Diwali new moon, in October or November. It is Yama Dwitiya, the day Yama is said to have visited his sister Yamuna, and the aparahna (the fourth of five parts of the day, the early afternoon) is the governing period, so the day whose aparahna Dwitiya covers is chosen. Bhai Dooj therefore comes two or three days after Diwali, and in some years on the same day as Govardhan Puja, which takes the Pratipada of the morning. Sisters mark their brothers' foreheads and feed them; in Bengal it is Bhai Phonta, in Nepal Bhai Tika, and in Maharashtra Bhau Beej. The Kayastha community keeps Chitragupta Puja on the same day.
How it is observed
Sisters apply tilak to their brothers in the afternoon and share a meal; a bath in the Yamuna is traditional at Mathura.