Children celebrate with sweets. Getty Images
Children celebrate with sweets. Getty Images
Children celebrate with sweets. Getty Images
Children celebrate with sweets. Getty Images

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Bhai Dooj 2022: when is the festival and why do millions of Hindus celebrate it?

It honours the relationship between brothers and sisters

Taniya Dutta
Taniya Dutta

October 26, 2022

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Millions of Hindus are on Wednesday celebrating Bhai Dooj, a festival that marks the strong bond between brothers and sisters.

It is celebrated two days after Diwali and is therefore called “Bhai” meaning “brother” and “Dooj” meaning “second”.

But this year, the festival is being marked three days after Diwali because of the partial solar eclipse on Tuesday that affected the lunar cycle.

Every festival in Hinduism is celebrated according to the “planetary hours”, which decide the auspicious and inauspicious times of the day.

The auspicious hours for Bhai Dooj will begin on Wednesday and last until Thursday morning.

What is the significance of Bhai Dooj?

Devotees perform rituals on Bhai Dooj last year in Patna, Bihar. Getty Images
Devotees perform rituals on Bhai Dooj last year in Patna, Bihar. Getty Images

It is believed that the festival was first celebrated by Yamraj, the God of Death, and his sister Yamuna.

Mythology says that Yamuna once invited her brother home but Yamraj could not meet her. He tried several times, and after frantic efforts, he finally met her. Yamuna welcomed her brother warmly and served him delicious food.

She also applied a tilak — the mark on forehead, a religious symbol that is also used to welcome guests.

Yamraj was overwhelmed with his sister’s love and hospitality and asked her for a blessing. Yamuna, who loved her brother, asked him to a fix one day every year when he would visit her.

Since then, it is believed that Yamraj visits Yamuna on Bhai Dooj.

How is the festival celebrated?

The festival is widely celebrated in northern, central and eastern India.

On the day, brothers often visit their sisters' homes. They are warmly welcomed by their sisters, who carry a round plate mainly consisting of the paste for tika, sweets, coconut, rice to signify prosperity, and an earthen lamp.

Then the sister applies the tika or the mark on the brother’s forehead and offer him a sweet, while wishing for his safety and prosperity.

The brother in return gives gifts, warmth and love to his sister.

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  • Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
  • Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Updated: October 26, 2022, 8:04 AM
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