Bhai Dooj (also Yama Dwitiya, Bhau Beej, Bhai Phonta) falls on the second day (dwitiya) of the bright fortnight of Kartika, two days after Diwali, and, like Raksha Bandhan, it celebrates the bond of brothers and sisters, here with the sister as the one who blesses and protects. Sisters apply an auspicious mark (tilak) to their brothers' foreheads, perform a small rite for their long life, and offer sweets and a meal; brothers give gifts in return and pledge their care.
The festival's charter myth gives it a note absent from Raksha Bandhan: it is linked to Yama, the god of death, who is said to have visited his sister Yamuna on this day and been so honoured by her that he declared any brother who receives his sister's hospitality now will be granted long life and freedom from the fear of death. The regional names and details differ, in Bengal the sister's mark of sandal paste (phonta) is central, in Maharashtra the rite is Bhau Beej, but the meaning is consistent: a day on which the sister's love is invoked as a protection over her brother's very life, closing the Diwali sequence on the theme of family bonds.