Second day of a lunar fortnight in the Hindu calendar
Dvitiya (
Sanskrit: द्वितीय,
romanized: Dvitīya) also referred to as Beej (
Sanskrit: बीज,
romanized: Bīja) and Dooj (
Sanskrit: दुजा,
romanized: Dujā) is the
Sanskrit word for "second",[1] and is the second day of the lunar fortnight (Paksha) of the
Hindu calendar.[2][3] Each Hindu month has two dvitiya days, being the second day of the "bright" (Shukla) and of the "dark" (Krishna) fortnights respectively. Dvitiya occurs on the second and the seventeenth day of each month.
Phulerā Dooj/Dvitiya: It is celebrated on Shukla Paksha Dvitiya of
Phalgun month and is quite popular in
Braj region. This festival falls between two Hindu festivals commemorating spring season i.e.
Vasanta Panchami and
Holi. On this day holi is played using flowers. The
Murtis of Hindu Devi-Devatas are decorated with flowers and flower canopy known as Phulera. As per
Narada Purana, Lord
Shiva is worshipped on this day with white colored fragrant flowers and an ornamental floral canopy is used for decorating His vigraha. On same day, in Radha Krishna temples vermillion are offered and flower holi is played in their remembrance.[5][6]