Festival story · 2 tellings · East India, West India
The sister who waited with a lamp (Subhadra welcomes Krishna; Bhau Beej and Bhai Phonta)
After killing Narakasura, Krishna comes to his sister Subhadra's house. She welcomes him with a lamp, flowers and sweets, puts the mark on his forehead and prays for his long life, and western India says this is why sisters do the same on the second day of bright Karttika. Bengal keeps the day as Bhai Phonta, with a sandal-paste mark and a rhyme that bars Yama's door, and its tellers give both the Krishna and the Yama origin.
West India · Maharashtra, Goa, GujaratVaishnavaMarathi, Konkani and Gujarati speakers🪔 Bhai Dooj (Yama Dwitiya)
After Krishna slays Narakasura he visits his sister Subhadra, who welcomes him with sweets and flowers, performs aarti and puts the tilak on his forehead; some hold this to be the origin of the festival. In Maharashtra the sister draws a square on the floor and seats her brother in it facing north, gives him the bitter karith to taste because Krishna is said to have tasted it before setting out for the kill, waves a platter with a lit oil lamp and kunku before him (ovaalne), marks his forehead, prays for his long life and receives his gift, then feeds him basundi, puri, puran poli or shrikhand; brothers may smash a pumpkin or coconut outside the house. A woman with no brother waves the lamp to the moon.
East India · West Bengal, Tripura, BangladeshAll traditionsBengali🪔 Bhai Dooj (Yama Dwitiya)
On the second day after Kali Puja a Bengali sister fasts until she has given the phonta. She grinds sandalwood with water or curd, some adding kajal or ghee, seats her brother on a mat, and with the little finger of her left hand (the ring finger in one account) touches the paste to his forehead three times while saying the rhyme: I put a phonta on my brother's forehead and a thorn falls at Yama's door; Yamuna gives the phonta to Yama, I give the phonta to my brother. Paddy and durba grass are put on his head, a conch is blown and the women give the ulu call; she feeds him sandesh, often with the word Bhaiphonta written on it, and a meal with fish, and gifts are exchanged. Bengal's tellers give the Krishna and Subhadra welcome and the Yama and Yamuna dinner as the origins; East Bengal families give the phonta on pratipada with a rhyme saying the mark is for the first day and the feast for the second.
What is different here:
The brother is any Bengali boy, not Krishna; the story is carried in a spoken rhyme that names Yamuna and Yama; the mark is sandal paste, not kunku; the sister fasts first.
Sources: Bhai Dooj, Wikipedia (Bhau-beej, Bhai Phonta and Bhai Tika redirect to it); Bhai Dooj 2024: exploring rituals and traditions across India, Outlook India; Bhaubeej (Symbolism in Hinduism, Chinmaya Mission, via eSamskriti); Diwali 2026 in Maharashtra: Lakshmi Poojan, Padwa and Bhau Beej, Hindutone; Brother, sister are oranges from the same tree (Grindmill Songs Project, People's Archive of Rural India); Bhai Phota Mantras: prayers to recite during Bhai Phota, Hindupad; Bhaiphonta (ভাইফোঁটা), Bengali Wikipedia; Bhai Phonta 2026: date in Bengal, phonta ritual, rhyme, sweets, Hindutone