Bhai Dooj 2026

Dates around the world · 2026

Date source: drikpanchang.com (New Delhi, Edison, New Jersey, San Jose, California, London, Toronto, Sydney). Dates are taken from the cited published panchang for each region and year; regions we could not verify are left out.

How to observe

Tick the steps as you go. The ticks are saved on this device only.

1. 1In the morning the sister bathes and gets the thali ready: roli or kumkum, akshat (unbroken rice), a diya, sweets, a few flowers and kalava. Some families also keep a dry coconut (gola) for the brother.
2. 2In some families the sister fasts, or eats nothing, until she has done the tilak. Follow your own family's way.
3. 3Many families draw a small square (chowk) of rice flour on the floor where the brother will sit, or set a low stool or a clean mat.
4. 4Begin with Vakratunda Mahakaya, and light the diya.
5. 5In the aparahna (afternoon) time for your city, the sister applies a tilak of roli and rice on her brother's forehead, ties kalava on his wrist if that is your custom, and does his aarti with the diya. She gives him a sweet and prays for his long life.
6. 6The brother gives his sister a gift and his blessing or respect: younger siblings touch the elder's feet.
7. 7Eat together. The sister cooks for her brother, or the family shares a meal. In Telugu homes this is the heart of the day, Bhagini Hasta Bhojanam.
8. 8Some families tell the story of Yama and Yamuna, and close with Om Jai Jagdish Hare.
9. 9If you live in different countries, many families do the tilak and aarti on a video call: the sister does the aarti in front of the screen, and the brother applies a tilak himself. Send the gift or sweets by post if you can.
10. 10Apartment note: keep the diya on the thali and away from smoke detectors and curtains. An electric diya is fine if flames are not allowed.

Customs differ by family and region. Follow your family tradition and temple where they differ from these steps.

What you will need

• Roli or kumkum and akshat (unbroken rice). Indian grocery stores (Patel Brothers in the US, and the Indian shops in Southall, Wembley, Leicester, Brampton or Harris Park) stock roli; plain rice from your kitchen is fine for akshat.
• A diya with ghee or oil, or an electric diya.
• Kalava or mauli, if your family ties it. Plain red thread works.
• Sweets, homemade or from an Indian sweet shop.
• A dry coconut (gola), in families that give one. Indian grocers sell them.
• A few flowers and a small thali.
• Rice flour for the chowk, if your family draws one.
• A gift from the brother. For a long-distance Bhai Dooj: a phone or laptop for the video call, and sweets sent ahead by post.

Texts to recite

• Vakratunda MahakayaVakratunda Mahakaya is a two-line Sanskrit shloka to Lord Ganesh and one of the most widely recited. It asks the Lord with the curved trunk, radiant as ten million suns, to keep all our work free of obstacles. Tradition says it before any puja, study, journey or new venture, and many people chant it 11, 21 or 108 times on Wednesdays and on Ganesh Chaturthi.
• Om Jai Jagdish HareOm Jai Jagdish Hare is one of the best-known Hindu aartis, a Hindi hymn to Lord Vishnu as Jagdish, "Lord of the universe", written by Pandit Shardha Ram Phillauri of Punjab around 1870. It has a refrain and seven stanzas asking Vishnu to remove sorrow, forgive our faults and increase our faith. Many families close their puja or Satyanarayan katha with it, in India and across the diaspora.

Questions