Bhai Dooj 2026 — Date and Tilak Muhurat for Your City

Bhai Dooj 2026 date: 11 November 2026, Wednesday.

Bhai Dooj tilak time in Delhi: 1:10 PM to 3:20 PM. Bhai Dooj tilak muhurat for Mumbai: 1:31 PM to 3:46 PM. Bhai Dooj tilak time in Kolkata: 12:28 PM to 2:41 PM. Bhai Dooj tilak muhurat for Chennai: 1:03 PM to 3:21 PM. Bhai Dooj tilak time in Bengaluru: 1:13 PM to 3:32 PM. Bhai Dooj tilak muhurat for Hyderabad: 1:09 PM to 3:25 PM. Bhai Dooj tilak time in Ahmedabad: 1:31 PM to 3:44 PM. Bhai Dooj tilak muhurat for Pune: 1:27 PM to 3:43 PM. Bhai Dooj tilak time in Jaipur: 1:17 PM to 3:28 PM. Bhai Dooj tilak muhurat for Lucknow: 12:56 PM to 3:07 PM. Bhai Dooj tilak time in Kanpur: 12:59 PM to 3:10 PM. Bhai Dooj tilak muhurat for Patna: 12:40 PM to 2:52 PM.

The Bhai Dooj 2026 date is Kartik shukla dwitiya - the second day of the bright fortnight after Diwali. What makes it tricky is that the tilak belongs to the afternoon, so the rule looks at which afternoon the dwitiya covers, not which morning.

The dwitiya usually begins some time in the afternoon of one day and runs into the afternoon of the next. When it covers both afternoons, the major almanacs - Drik Panchang, Prokerala and most printed panchangs - take the second day, because the tithi is also present at sunrise that morning. This page follows the same rule, which is why the Bhai Dooj 2026 date can differ from calendars that simply take the day the tithi begins.

The live card above gives the Bhai Dooj 2026 date, the exact start and end of dwitiya, and the tilak window for your city. The table below gives the same for twenty cities, and the festival calendar places it in the five days of Diwali.

The Bhai Dooj tilak muhurat is the aparahna - the fourth of the five equal parts into which the daylight is divided. In most Indian cities in November that falls roughly between one and three-thirty in the afternoon.

One further condition applies: the dwitiya must still be running. If the tithi ends partway through the aparahna, the Bhai Dooj tilak muhurat is cut short at that point. The card above applies both conditions, which is why the window sometimes ends earlier than the full aparahna.

Why the afternoon? The texts associate the aparahna with Yama and the ancestors, and Bhai Dooj is Yama's own day - the day he visited his sister and granted protection to every brother who receives her tilak. Performing it in his portion of the day completes the connection.

Because the aparahna is a fraction of the daylight, the Bhai Dooj tilak time moves with both sunrise and sunset. Eastern cities begin earlier than western ones, and the length of the window changes a little with latitude.

The city table above gives the Bhai Dooj tilak time for twenty cities, each computed from its own sunrise, sunset and the dwitiya boundary. Enter any other city in the form above to get its exact window.

For families split across cities, this matters more than usual. A sister in Bengaluru tying tilak over a video call to a brother in Delhi should use her own Bhai Dooj tilak time, since the rite is hers - and the two windows usually overlap for at least an hour, which makes the call easy to schedule.

The Bhai Dooj puja vidhi is short and warm, and it is performed entirely by the sister.

1. The thali. Prepare a plate with a lamp, roli or kumkum, rice, a sweet, a coconut or dry fruit, and a few flowers.

2. Seat the brother. Inside the tilak muhurat, seat him facing east or north on a clean seat, often with a cloth over his head.

3. The tilak. Apply roli and rice to his forehead with the ring finger, praying for his long life and wellbeing.

4. Aarti. Wave the lamp before him, then feed him a sweet with your own hand.

5. The meal. Traditionally the brother eats at his sister's home that day, as Yama did at Yamuna's.

6. The gift. The brother gives his sister a gift and his promise to stand by her.

In Maharashtra the Bhai Dooj puja vidhi includes a square drawn on the floor where the brother sits; in Bengal the sister applies sandal paste and says a traditional verse; in Nepal seven colours of tika are used. The core - tilak, aarti, food and a promise - is the same everywhere.

The best-known Bhai Dooj story concerns Yama, lord of death, and his twin sister Yamuna. Yamuna had long asked her brother to visit, and Yama, always occupied with his duties, kept putting it off. On Kartik shukla dwitiya he finally came.

Yamuna welcomed him with a lamp and tilak, cooked his favourite food and served him with her own hands. Moved, Yama asked her to name a boon. She asked that every brother who visits his sister on this day and receives her tilak be free from the fear of untimely death - and Yama granted it.

A second Bhai Dooj story is told alongside it. After killing the demon Narakasura, Krishna returned to Dwarka and visited his sister Subhadra, who welcomed him with aarti and tilak in exactly the same way. Many families recount both, and both explain why the rite is a sister's protection for her brother rather than the reverse.

The same afternoon carries a second observance. Chitragupta puja on Bhai Dooj honours Chitragupta, the divine scribe who records every soul's deeds for Yama's judgement - a fitting companion to Yama's own day.

It is kept with particular devotion in Kayastha families, who trace their descent from Chitragupta. The pen, the inkpot and the account books are placed before his image and worshipped, and in many homes no writing is done for the rest of the day. The new year's accounts are sometimes opened after the puja.

Chitragupta puja on Bhai Dooj uses the same aparahna window as the tilak, so families who keep both usually perform the Chitragupta worship first and the tilak immediately after.

1. The tithi. Kartik shukla dwitiya is found to the minute from the Moon's elongation, using the Swiss Ephemeris.

2. The day. The days on which dwitiya is present in the aparahna are found; if both qualify, the second is taken, as Drik Panchang and Prokerala do.

3. The window. The aparahna comes from your own sunrise and sunset, clipped to the end of dwitiya.

The Bhai Dooj puja vidhi takes about fifteen minutes. Young girls learn the Bhai Dooj puja vidhi by watching their mothers. The Bhai Dooj puja vidhi needs nothing that is not already in a Diwali home.

Kayastha families never skip Chitragupta puja on Bhai Dooj. Grandmothers tell the Bhai Dooj story while the thali is prepared. The Bhai Dooj story of Yama and Yamuna is told in every region.

The Bhai Dooj story explains why the tilak protects the brother. Children usually hear the Bhai Dooj story from their sisters. The Bhai Dooj story connects the day to the river Yamuna.

A second Bhai Dooj story involves Krishna and Subhadra. Many sisters recite the Bhai Dooj story aloud while applying the tilak. In Nepal the Bhai Dooj story is told alongside Yama's seven-coloured tika.

The Bhai Dooj story is why brothers bathe in the Yamuna at Mathura on this day.

This Bhai Dooj dates 2026 list answers the six questions people search most — Bhai Dooj today, types of Bhai Dooj, Bhai Dooj rules what not to do, mrityu Bhai Dooj dates, Bhai Dooj kab hai — each with the rule behind it. The Bhai Dooj dates 2026 list above computes your own result free; the sections below explain what it means, and a Bhai Dooj dates 2026 list that shows its working is one you can check against any astrologer.

Bhai Dooj 2026 List — Every Period to the Minute

The Bhai Dooj dates 2026 list above gives the start and end of every period in IST with its type.

Bhai Dooj Today — Yes or No, and Until When

Bhai Dooj today is shown at the top of the result and in the form.

Types of Bhai Dooj — the Weekday Decides

Types of Bhai Dooj are named from the weekday the period begins: Sunday Roga, Monday Raja, Tuesday Agni, Friday Chora and Saturday Mrityu, with Wednesday and Thursday unnamed. The timeline colours each period by its type so the serious ones stand out.

Bhai Dooj Rules What Not to Do — the Five Classical Restrictions

Bhai Dooj rules what not to do come down to five things: laying a roof, gathering wood or fuel, making a bed, travelling south, and a cremation without Bhai Dooj shanti. Daily work, office and most rituals continue as normal.

Mrityu Bhai Dooj — the One to Plan Around

Mrityu Bhai Dooj dates are those that begin on a Saturday - the type families take most seriously. Risky work, long journeys and new beginnings are best kept outside it.

Bhai Dooj Kab Hai — Is Mahine Ka Bhai Dooj

Bhai Dooj kab hai ka jawab upar hai: aaj Bhai Dooj hai ya nahi, agla Bhai Dooj kab se kab tak, aur uska prakar. Poore saal ki list aur har Bhai Dooj ka shuru-ant samay minute tak diya gaya hai.

If you came to this Bhai Dooj dates 2026 list to check a result from another app, compare the degree, not just the sign — two tools using different ayanamsas will disagree by about a sign near boundaries. This Bhai Dooj dates 2026 list prints Lahiri, the value used, and every intermediate step, so the Bhai Dooj dates 2026 list result can be verified line by line.