Yama visits his sister Yamuna; Yamuna snan, Yama puja and Chitragupta puja on Kartika Dwitiya

Yama Dwitiya is the scriptural name for Kartika Shukla Dwitiya, the day Yama, lord of death, went to his twin sister Yami (Yamuna), both children of Surya and Sanjna. For years Yamuna had invited him, and when he finally came she welcomed him with a bath, a tilak and a feast. Yama granted a boon: whoever bathes in the Yamuna and eats at a sister's home on this day will not fear his messengers or untimely death. The Skanda Purana and the Padma Purana prescribe worshipping Yama, his scribe Chitragupta, and his messengers, and bathing in the Yamuna. Mathura's Vishram Ghat and the Yama-Yamuna temple there draw large crowds of brother-sister pairs who bathe together. The day is also Chitragupta Puja: Chitragupta, who records every soul's good and bad deeds for Yama, is worshipped by the Kayastha community with pens, inkpots and account books, and devotees write their income and expenses and the names of deities in a new ledger, praying for good judgment. Thus Yama Dwitiya brings together siblings' love, the remembrance of death and dharma, and the ideal of honest accounts.

No fast is prescribed.