Raksha Bandhan- Rakhi

Raksha Bandhan- Rakhi 2018

 Introduction

This is a special Hindu festival which is celebrated in countries like India and Nepal to make a symbol of love between a brother and a sister. The opportunity of the Raksha Bandhan is celebrated on the full moon day of Hindu Luni-Solar Calendar in the month of Shravan which usually comes in the English calendar in August.

The relationship between a brother and sister is just unique and beyond description in words. The relationship between siblings is extraordinary and it is given importance in every part of the world. However, when it comes to India, the relationship becomes more important because the festival called "Raksha Bandhan" is dedicated to brotherly love.

Forms of Festival in different religions in India

1-Hindu Dharma - The festival is celebrated mainly by the Hindus with countries such as Nepal, Pakistan and Mauritius in northern and western parts of India.

2-Sikh religion- This festival dedicated to brother-sister love by Sikhs is celebrated as "Bedardi" or Rakhi.

3-Jainism- This occasion is also honored by the Jain community where Jain priests give formal thread to the devotees.

Meaning of Raksha Bandhan

The festival is made up of two words, meaning "defense" and "bondage." According to the Sanskrit terminology, this opportunity means "a tie or a knot of security" where "defense" stands for security and "bondage" refers to the tie to the verb. Together, the festival is a symbol of eternal love of brother and sister, which means that there is no blood connection only. This is celebrated between the cousin, sister and sister-in-law (sister-in-law), brother aunt (sister) and nephew (Bhatija) and such other relationships.

Festival

The festival of Raksha Bandhan is considered a symbol of duty between brothers and sisters. This opportunity is to celebrate any kind of siblings between men and women who can be or cannot be biological related . On this day, a sister ties a rakhi around the wrist of her brother in order to pray for his prosperity, health and well-being. The brother in return offers a gifts and promises to protect his sister from any harm and under every circumstance. The festival is also celebrated between brother-sister belonging to distant family members, relatives or cousins.

Origin of the Raksha Bandhan Festival

The festival of Raksha Bandhan has begun for centuries and there are many stories related to the celebration of this special festival. Some of the different accounts related to Hindu mythology are described below:

Indra Dev- According to the ancient legend of Indra Dev and the true-grand antiquity, once there was a fierce battle between God and demons. Lord Indra - the god of the sky, rain and thunder who were fighting in favor of the gods, the powerful monster king was making a tough fight against Bali. The war continued for a long time and a decisive end did not come. Seeing this, Indra's wife went to the true Lord Vishnu, who gave him a sacred bracelet made of cotton yarn. The true one tied the sacred thread around the wrist of her husband, Lord Indra, who ultimately defeated the demons and recovered Amravati. 

The earlier accounts of the festival had described these sacred thread as Amulets, which were used by women for prayers and when they were going out for war, were bound by their husbands. Conversely, at the present time, those sacred threads were not limited to siblings.

King Bali and Goddess Laxmi- According to an account of King Bali and Goddess Laxmi-Bhagwat Purana and Vishnu Purana, when Lord Vishnu won the three worlds from the demon king Bali, he asked the monster king to stay next to him in the palace. God accepted the request and started living with the monster king. However, goddess Laxmi Vaikunth, wife of Lord Vishnu, wanted to return to her native place. Therefore, he tied the rakhi around the wrist of the demon king, Bali and made him a brother. On asking about the return gift, Goddess Lakshmi asked her husband to take oath from Bali and let her return to Vaikuntha. Bali agreed on request and Lord Vishnu returned to his place with his wife Devi Lakshmi.

Yama and Yamuna- Another legend says that God's death, Yama did not go to his sister Yamuna for a period of 12 years, which eventually became very sad. On the advice of Ganga, Yama went to visit her sister Yamuna, who was very happy and hospitalized by her brother Yama. It pleased Yama who asked for a gift from the Yamuna. He repeatedly expressed his desire to see his brother. Hearing this, Yama made her sister Yamuna immortal so that she could see him again and again. This mythological account forms the basis of the festival "Brother Dawes", which is also based on brother-sister relationship.

Santoshi Maa- It is said that two sons of Lord Ganesha, namely auspicious and Lab, were disappointed that they had no sister. He asked his father with a sister, who ultimately forced his sister on the intervention of Sant Narada. Thus Lord Ganesha created Santoshi Mother through Divine Fire and the two sons of Lord Ganesha received their sister for the opportunity of protection.

Krishna and Draupadi - on the basis of an account of the Mahabharata, Pandavas' wife, Draupadi, gave Lord Krishna a rakhi, while Kunti tied Abhisheku with the granddaughter before the epic war.