Rajashekhara Dasa
From the book “Chaurasi-kosa Vraja Mandala Parikrama”:
This small temple is known locally as the Yama-Yami Mandira and it is dedicated to the brother and sister duo Lord Yamaraja and Yamuna Devi, whose father was the sun-god Lord Surya-narayana. There is a great religious festival held here during Kartika every year on the day after Govardhana Puja and known as Bhaiya-duja or Yama-dwitiya. This is the occasion when brothers and sisters arrive from all over Vraja to bathe together in the River Yamuna at Vishrama Ghata and then perform puja at the Yama-Yami Temple.
This festival is held in celebration of the time when Lord Yamaraja, came to visit his sister Yamuna Devi on her birthday. Lord Yamaraja had been longing to meet his twin sister and finally got the opportunity during her birthday celebrations. Yamuna Devi received her brother in the most befitting manner and served him with a wonderfully prepared meal. Lord Yamaraja was so pleased with the reception and service of his sister; he asked her what benediction she wanted. The ever-merciful Yamuna Devi asked for a special boon, that if any brother and sister bathed together in the River Yamuna on her birthday, they would be freed from all their sins and not be called to the court of Yamaraja at their time of death. Lord Yamaraja agreed to Yamuna Devi’s proposal saying, “So be it”. In another version of the legend Yamuna Devi asked a boon that on this day all those brothers who visit their sister’s house and take a meal cooked by her will never go to Naraka. Lord Yamaraja agreed and also promised that any sister, who invites her brother and serves food to him on this day, will never become a widow. Consequently, many hundreds and thousands of brothers and sisters congregate at Vishram Ghata to bathe in the River Yamuna and offer prayers at the Yama-Yami shrine on this particular day.
