Bhai Dooj, also known as Bhai Tika, Bhaubeej, Bhai Phonta, or Bhratri Dwitiya, is a festival that celebrates the special bond between siblings. The day marks the culmination of the five-day-long Diwali festivities in many states. Every year, Bhai Dooj is celebrated two days after the festival of lights. This year Bhai Dooj will be celebrated on two days, November 14 and 15.  

Bhai Dooj 2023: Puja Vidhi

On this occasion, sisters apply tilak on the forehead of their brothers and pray for their long and happy lives, while carrying a colourful thali filled with sweets, roli, and coconut. While applying tilak, the brother’s face should be towards the north or northwest and the sister’s face should be towards the northeast or east. Then brothers and sisters treat each other with traditional Indian sweets and celebrate this special day with the exchange of gifts. Both brothers and sisters have to fast till the pooja is done.

If, for some reason, the brother cannot visit the sister, then the sister can send the tilak and dry coconut to her brother. Women without brothers worship Moon Chandra, as is customary in Maharashtra and Haryana on the auspicious occasion of Bhau-beej. 

Raksha Bandhan and Bhai Dooj are quite similar up to an extent, however, on Bhai Dooj, sisters do not tie a thread or Rakhi on the wrists of their brothers like they do on Raksha Bandhan.

Bhai Dooj 2023: Auspicious Time To Apply Tilak and Shubh Muhurat 

According to Drik Panchang, Bhai Dooj will start on November 14 and continue till November 15.  The auspicious Muhurat will start in the afternoon on Tuesday and end on Wednesday. 

Bhai Dooj aparahna time: 01:21 PM to 03:33 PMDuration: 02 Hours 12 MinsShubh muhurat on November 14: Dwitiya tithi begins at 02:36 PMShubh muhurat on November 15: Dwitiya tithi ends at 01:47 PM

As per Hindu mythology, it is believed that Goddess Yamuna fed her brother Yamraj on Kartik Dwitiya at her own home. Since then this day is also known as Yama Dwitiya.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi took a dig at Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy, calling him a “puppet of RSS” and even accusing him of doing “dog whistle politics” targeting the minority class.

“You (Revanth Reddy) don’t have anything to criticise against us. You speak about our clothes and beards and attack us. It is called dog whistle politics. You are an RSS puppet. There is no difference between the BJP and the Congress,” Asaduddin Owaisi said in a public rally here.

The Telangana Congress chief on Sunday attacked Mr Owaisi, saying that he “wears a khaki knicker under his sherwani.”

Mr Owaisi was apparently responding to these comments.

“Telangana PCC chief started as an RSS member wearing a chaddi and then went to ABVP, then joined Telugu Desam and now come to Congress. Someone said it right that Congress’s Gandhi Bhavan is captured by Mohan Bhagwat and will run Congress however he wants,” the AIMIM chief said.

Recalling the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protests, Mr Owaisi went on to say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the protesters could be identified by the dress they wore. He added that the same thing was done by Mr Revanth when he talked about Mr Owaisi’s sherwani.

Political heat is high in Telangana as the state will undergo assembly elections on November 30, and the counting of votes, along with those of four other poll-bound states, has been scheduled for December 3.

The armed wing of Palestinian group Hamas said on Monday they told Qatari mediators that the group is ready to release up to 70 women and children held in Gaza in return for a five-day truce.

“The truce should include a complete ceasefire and allowing aid and humanitarian relief everywhere in the Gaza Strip,” Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for the armed wing of Hamas, Alqassam Brigades,. said in a recorded audio published on the group’s Telegram channel.

He went on to accuse Israel of “procrastinating and evading” the price of the deal.