Raksha Bandhan

The bonding between a brother and a sister is simply unique and extraordinary and is beyond description in words. Raksha Bandhan is a special Hindu festival which is dedicated for the brother-sister relationship. It is celebrated on the full moon day of the Hindu lunar calendar in the month of Shravana which typically falls in August.

As per the Sanskrit terminology, Raksha Bandhan means "the tie or knot of protection" where "Raksha" stands for the protection and "Bandhan" signifies the verb to tie. On this day, a sister ties a sacred thread called rakhi around the wrist of her brother in order to pray for his prosperity, health and well-being. The brother in return offers a gift and promises to protect his sister from any harm and under every circumstance. It symbolises the duty of a brother towards his sister.

Together, the festival symbolises the eternal love of brother-sister relationship which does not mean just the blood relationships only, but also among cousins. People also tie rakhi to their friends and other close ones to spread love and care to them.

In Hinduism, the festival is mainly celebrated by the Hindus in the northern and western parts of India along with countries like Nepal and Mauritius. In Sikhism, this festival is observed by the Sikhs as "Rakhardi" or Rakhari. While in Jainism, it is revered by the Jain community where Jain priests give ceremonial threads to the devotees.

Origin of Raksha Bandhan Festival

The festival of Raksha Bandhan is known to have originated centuries before and there are several stories related to the celebration of this special festival. Some stories are described below:

Krishna and Draupadi- Based on Mahabharat, Draupadi, the wife of Pandavas tied a rakhi to Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna had hurt his finger when he had sent his Sudarshan Chakra from his finger to behead Shishupala. Draupadi then bandaged his finger with a piece of cloth from her saree. Lord Krishna who was moved by her deed promised to protect her from all odds.
King Bali and Goddess Lakshmi- As per Vishnu Purana, when Lord Vishnu won the three worlds from the demon King Bali, the latter asked him to stay beside him in the palace. The Lord accepted the request and started living with the demon king. However, Goddess Lakshmi, wife of Lord Vishnu wanted to return to her native place of Vaikuntha. Goddess Lakshmi disguised herself as a Brahmin woman and tied a rakhi around the wrist of King Bali on the day of Shravan Purnima and made him her brother. She then revealed herself and on asking about the return gift, she asked Bali to free her husband from the vow and let him return to Vaikuntha. Bali agreed and Lord Vishnu returned to his place with his wife.
Indra Dev and Sachi- According to the ancient legend of Bhavishya Purana, once there was a fierce battle between Gods and demons. Lord Indra, the principal deity of sky, rains and thunderbolts who was fighting the battle on the side of Gods was having a tough resistance from the powerful demon King Bali. The war continued for a long time and did not come on a decisive end. Seeing this, Indra's wife Sachi went to the Lord Vishnu who gave her a holy bracelet made up of cotton thread, and she tied the holy thread around the wrist of her husband who ultimately defeated the demons and recovered the Amaravati. Before, these holy threads; amulets were used by women for prayers and were tied to their husband when they were leaving for a war.
Santoshi Maa- It is said that the two sons of Lord Ganesha namely, Shubh and Labh were frustrated that they had no sister. They asked for a sister from their father who finally obliged to their sister on the intervention of saint Narada. This is how Lord Ganesha created Santoshi Maa through the divine flames and the two sons of Lord Ganesha got their sister for the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.
Yama and the Yamuna- The death God, Yama did not visit his sister Yamuna for a period of 12 years who ultimately became very sad. On the advice of Ganga, Yama went to meet his sister Yamuna who was very happy and performed hospitality of her brother, Yama. This made Yama delighted who asked Yamuna for a gift, and she expressed her desire to see her brother frequently. Hearing this, Yama made his sister immortal so that he could see her often. This mythological account forms the basis of festival called "Bhai Dooj" which is also related on the brother-sister relationship.

By Rishikesh Beeharry