Phulera Dooj festival is ascribed to Bhagwan Sri Krishna. It occurs on the Dwitiya day, i.e the second day from the Amavasya of Plalguna month (Shukla Paksha Dwitiya).
Phulera dooj heralds the onset of Holi festivities. In Hindi, the word “Phul” means flowers. This day marks the playing with the flowers of very vibrant colours. The festival is celebrated across all Krishna temples in North India especially in Mathura and Vrindavan.
Phulera Dooj occurs on Tuesday, 12th March 2024. The exact duration of the Dwitiya tithi has to be ascertained from the respective regional calendar.
Phulera Dooj – rituals
Phulera Dooj is celebrated at homes as well as at temples.
Homes
At homes, the idols / pictures of Sri Krishna and Sri Radha are decorated with Chandan, Kumkum and flowers.
Lamps and dhups are lit.
Bhajans / Keertans on Sri Krishna and Sri Radha are sung with devotion. Slokas also are recited.
Special dishes made of poha (rice flakes) and sweets are offered to the Deities as Neivedyam.
Neivedyam is distributed as prasadam to all.
Sri Krishna Temples
At the temples, special colorful mandaps are made with flowers.
The vigrahas (idols) of Sri Radha and Sri Krishna are kept in the mandap.
The idol of Sri Krishna is adorned with a white cloth. A piece of cloth dipped in various holy colors is tied around the waist of Sri Krishna. This signifies that Bhagwan Sri Krishna is ready for holy festivities.
Tiny amounts of holy colors are smeared on the idols of Sri Krishna and Sri Radha.
Bhajans / Keertans on Sri Krishna and Sri Radha are sung with devotion. Slokas also are recited.
Special dishes and sweets are offered for Neivedyam and then distributed as Prasadam.
At the evening, special aarti is taken on Sri Krishna and Sri Radha. After the festivities at night, the colored waist cloth tied around Bhagwan Krishna’s idol is removed.
Some holy colors are also sprinkled on the devotees.
Phulera Dooj day – beliefs
It is believed that the day of Phulera Dooj is free from any dosh. As per the belief, for doing any auspicious work on this day, it is not necessary to fix the muhurat time. It is called as Abhuj Muhurtham.
Worshipping Sri Krishna and Sri Radha together on this day is believed to bring in prosperity and happiness in life.
Making daan / donations to the poor and the needy is considered good.
Jai Sri Radhe Krishna !!!
