BhaiDooj – The Brother And Sister Bond

Diwali is one of the most important festivals celebrated by Hindus all across the globe, marking the victory of good over evil, and the return of Lord Rama along with his wife and brother after a 14 yearexile. Hindus celebrate this festival for five days at a stretch, wherein they clean their homes, wear new clothes, exchange gif5s and sweets, burst crackers, light diyas, and pray. For a perfect Diwali puja, you can get in touch wth MakeMyPuja pandits who can help you carry out the puja with complete dedication and the correct rituals.

Diwali starts with Dhanteras, where Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped to seek her blessings in the form of success and wealth all the year round. The five day festivities end with Bhai Dooj, which is the day of brother-sister bonding. This day is also known as BhauBeej, BhaiTika and BhaiPhota. This is the day when sisters fast for their beloved brothers and pray for their success. Brothers are invited for lunch, where all their favourite delicacies are prepared. When the brother arrives, he is welcomed by applying a vermillion mark on his forehead, followed by an aarti. This day is celebrated ust ike Rakshabandhan, where the sisters pray ad give blessings to their brothers for a longand successful life, and the brotherspromise their sisters to protect them in all situations for the entire life. However, unlike Rakshabandhan, the sisters on Bhai Dooj present gifts to their brothers, rather than receiving gifts from them.

There are many stories related to the importance and celebration of Bhai Dooj.

·        One story is about a family living in a village comprising of parents, a younger brother and an elder sister. After tye sister gets married, she is unable to visit her family due to tye dense forest that separated both the villages. One day, the brother decides t walk through the dense forest, fighting all the dangers that came his way, only to meet his sister. He faced poisonous snakes, tigers and dangerous mountains on his way, and somehow reached his sister's home, where he was warmly welcomed and taken care of.

·        Another story is of Lord Krishna who visited his sister Subhadra after killing the demon Narakasur. He was welcomed with lots of affectionwith lamps, flowers, sweets, and by applying a tika on his forehead.

·        The third legend is about the bonding between the twins - Yama and Yamuna. After years of staying away from each other, Yama decided to meet Yamuna, who was delighted to hear about this news. She prepared a grand feast for her brother to honour him. She applied tilak on his forehead, garlanded him and prayed for him.

Whatever the story may be, one thing is for sure that Bhai Dooj is celebrated as the bond between brothers and sisters. This Bhai Dooj, make sure to share your love with your brother/sister, no matter where you may be, and strengthen the bond even more.

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Importance Of Laxmi Puja On Diwali

Deepawali is a five-day long festival, out of which the third day is considered as Diwali when diyas are lit around homes, fireworks and crackers are burst, and people adorned in new clothing visit their loved ones and exchange gifts and sweets. This is also the day when people worship Goddess Laxmi by having a Laxmi Puja in their home.

Diwali falls on the fifteenth day of the Kartik month, which is the day of ‘Amawasya’. It is considered the most auspicious day of the year for Hindus. This is because as per Hindu belief, Diwali marks the return of Lord Rama, along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman, from 14 years of exile. Another mythology is that Diwali was the day when Lord Vishnu and Goddess Laxmi got married, which is why Goddess Laxmi is worshipped on this day.

The Laxmi Puja begins with worshipping Lord Ganesha – the remover of obstacles. Then Goddess Laxmi is worshipped in her three forms – Mahalaxmi (Goddess of wealth and prosperity), Mahasaraswati (Goddess of knowledge), and Mahakali. Kubera, the treasurer of Gods is also worshipped on this day. Along with the idols, people also place gold and silver coins and money in the puja. The Laxmi Puja comprises of offering haldi, kumkum, abeer, gulal, ittar, flowers and prasad to the idols and singing aarti followed by lighting candles and diyas around the home to remove all sort of darkness and bring in light.

These lamps and candles are lit in honour of the sacred memories of those great men who brightened the lives of millions of their fellow beings. These great men were –

·        Lord Shri Krishna – who taught Arjun the lessons of the Bhagwad Geeta on the battleground of Kurukshetra, and left his body.

·        Lord Mahavir – the founder of Jainism, who also attained nirvana on this auspicious day.

·        Swami Dayanand Saraswati – the founder of Arya Samaj in 1875 in Mumbai, who merged with divinity on this day after freeing his soul from his body through Yogic powers.

·        Swami Ramtirth – the ‘Ram Badhshah’ of millions of Indians, who was born on this day as well as took to sanyas and samaadhi on this day too.

So from this year onwards, make sure you light lamps around your home while remembering to pay reverence to these four great men without fail. To worship Goddess Laxmi on this day so that she showers you with great success and prosperity, make sure you book MakeMyPuja Pandits to help you carry out the Laxmi Puja with perfection so that every tiny aspect of the Puja is taken care of.

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