Essay About Bhaitika
Hinduism is a religion having a lot of gods and goddesses also has a lot of rituals, festivals, and so on. All of the festivals having a certain occasion like a victory of gods over the demons, birth of someone, and so on. And among those festivals, Tihar ( Deepawali) is one of the festivals. Bhai Tika is not a festival in itself but it a part of Tihar and the last and the fifth day of the Tihar Festival. Bhai Tika is celebrated on the second lunar day of Shukla Paksha and mostly falls in the month of Kartik (According to Shalivahan Shaka calendar).
This is the day of brothers and sisters. Brothers and sisters gather after so much time on the auspicious occasion of Bhai Tika. The sisters put Saptarangi (7 colored) tika or tilaka in the foreheads of their brothers. Brothers also put the same 7-colored tika in their sister’s forehead. It signifies that sisters want their brothers to have long as well as prosperous lives in the future.
The sisters then gift something to their brothers along with a lot of blessings and love for their good future. There are certain myths in our religion regarding the origin of “Bhai Tika”. Some say that after slaying the demon Narakasura, Lord Krishna visited his sister Subhadra and Lord Krishna was welcomed with sweets and flowers by sister Subhadra and she put a tika on Krishna’s forehead and this was how Bhai Tika was originated. While others believe that the god of Death Yamraj was prayed by his sisters for a long life putting a tika on his forehead. So “Bhai Tika” is also known as Yama Panchak.
These are some of the myths that explain the origin of the day “Bhai Tika” The National Panchanga Committee of Nepal determines the best time (saait) after which sisters can start putting tikas in their brother’s forehead. When that time crosses, sisters put the brother at a place, revolve around them making a circle with the dropped water. This circle actually means that all the brothers within the circle can be protected from the enemies. Then the sister oils the heads of the brothers and then continues with the tika process.
Actually, there is a special method for putting the tikas on the occasion of Bhai Tika. A banana leaf is cut out and then a small rectangular hole is made by tearing in the middle region. Then sister puts a layer of curd within the rectangular hole and starts putting the 7 colors in a random way. Then the sisters gift their brother some gifts along with delicious foodstuff.
The sisters also give blessings as well as a lot of love for their brothers while brothers also put the tika on their sister’s forehead and gift them something. Thus this is how the part of Tihar, Bhai Tika is celebrated with great joy. To break a nutshell, Bhai Tika is a great day for both brothers and sisters.
Both get gifts and both get to eat delicious food. But moreover, Bhai Tika is not always about fun it’s about the co-ordination and the maintenance of the strong bond between brothers and sisters. It is about the brother-sister relationship that is made strong by this festival.