Thursday, 16 November 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The festival of Bhai Dooj was celebrated by brothers and sisters with enthusiasm on Wednesday. Many people celebrate Bhai Dooj in different ways, also known as Bhaiya Dooj and Bhai Tika. Some sisters tie a holy thread on the wrists of their brothers and do tilak after which they offer him a dry coconut or dry fruits. Some sisters also observe a fast and eat only after doing the tilak of their brother. The brothers give their sisters gifts on the occasion after the tilak. However, it is observed that Bhai Dooj is celebrated more in urban areas than in the mountainous areas of the State. According to a homemaker Deepa Rawat, she has never celebrated Bhai Dooj while growing up in her village in the Chamoli district. She came to know about this festival when she came to Dehradun at the age of 17 and has been celebrating this festival since then as it is not widely celebrated in the hilly areas of the State. However, she added that it is one of the auspicious days dedicated to the love and bond shared by brothers and sisters and she makes sure her children celebrate it every year. The sweet shop owners on Wednesday displayed a variety of sweets on the occasion of Bhai Dooj as it is considered the last day of the year when people buy sweets on such a large scale. A shopkeeper of a sweet shop in Dehradun’s Sahastradhara Road stated, “For us, Deepawali starts from Dhanteras and ends on the day of Bhai Dooj. The consumption of sweets occurs maximum during these few days and the sale ends on Bhai Dooj. The only dip in the sales we observe is during Govardhan Puja.” Besides this, the sales of gifts for kids and young adults, dry fruit baskets and chocolates among others also witnessed a rise. Also, many had to face traffic jams on several routes in Dehradun from early morning till afternoon on the occasion.
