न्यूज अभियान
हरेक खबर विशेष खबर

Mahottari, Nov 11: The Maithil community in the Mithila region is celebrating Bhaiya Dooj today, with sisters performing traditional rituals and praying for their brothers’ long life, happiness and prosperity.
Observed on the second day of the waxing moon in the Nepali lunar month of Kartik, the festival also marks the conclusion of the annual Deepawali celebrations.
This year, Deepawali extended to six days instead of the usual five due to variations in the lunar calendar.
Also known as Bharadwitiya or Bhratri Dwitiya, the festival centres on the bond between brothers and sisters, with sisters inviting their brothers home for special worship and blessings. 
Married women traditionally host their brothers at their homes, while unmarried siblings celebrate together in their family homes.
According to Shobhakanta Jha, a teacher at Rajakiya Sanskrit Secondary School in Matihani of Mahottari district as well as an expert on Maithil folk culture, the festival shares the same mythological origins as Tihar, although the rituals differ between the hill and Maithil communities.
As part of the ceremony, Jha mentioned, sisters draw a sacred geometric design known as 'Aripan' using a paste of rice flour and water. 
They then seat their brothers on wooden stools, wash their feet with warm water and apply a seven-coloured tika after offering betel leaves and areca nuts, he said, describing the rituals of Bhaiya Dooj.
One of the distinctive rituals, known as 'Bajri Khuwaune', involves giving brothers dried peas to chew, symbolizing the wish for their bodies to be as strong and resilient as a thunderbolt.
Following the rituals, brothers offer their sisters new clothes, ornaments and cash as gifts. Sisters then serve them a special meal, completing the celebration.
According to Jha, the festival is rooted in a legend from the Satya Yuga, the first of the four ages in Hindu cosmology, when King Bali’s sisters, Ganga and Yamuna, applied a seven-coloured tika to their brother, wishing him courage, well-being and a long life.
Along with Rakhi and Samachakewa, Bhaiya Dooj is among the important Maithil festivals celebrating sibling affection, mutual care and family harmony.