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Rakhi: The Thread of Love
In India, festivals are the celebration of togetherness the celebrations of being one of the family. Raksha Bandhan is one such festival that is all about affection, fraternity and sublime sentiments. It is also known as Raksha Bandhan which means a 'bond of protection. This is an occasion to flourish love, care, affection and sacred feeling of brotherhood.
Rakhi festival or Raksha Bandhan celebrated the eternal love and affection of brother and sister. In 2009, the date of Raksha Bandhan or Rakhi festival is August 5, Wednesday. Rakhi Pournami festival is celebrated on Shravan Purnima. In Hinduism, many festivals are associated with this concept but, Raksha Bandhan or Rakhi festival is the most auspicious and most celebrated among the festivals related to brother and sister relationship.
In the past, Rakhi festival or Rakshabandhan was celebrated in North Indian states and in Western Indian regions but, today it is widely celebrated throughout India and as well in other countries where Hindu communities are living.
An insight of Rakhi Rituals
On the day of Rakhi, sisters prepares the pooja thali with diya, roli, chawal, rakhi thread and sweets. The ritual begins with a prayer in front of God, then the sister ties Rakhi to her brother and wishes for his happiness and well-being. In turn, the brother acknowledge the love with a promise to stand by his sister through all the good and bad times. Sisters tie Rakhi on the wrist of their brothers amid chanting of mantras, put roli and rice on his forehead and pray for his well-being. |
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She bestows him with gifts and blessings. In turn, brothers also wish her a good life and pledges to take care of her. He gives her a return gift. The gift symbolizes the physical acceptance of her love, reminder of their togetherness and his pledge.
Rakhi Festival reference in History
Raksha Bandhan or Rakhi Festival is also mentioned in Mahabharat. Dharmaraj or Yudhistira, the elder brother among Pandavas, asked Lord Krishna to refer him a ritual to protect himself, his family and army from dangerous acts of Kauravas and Kaurav Sena (the army of Kauravas). On Shravan Purnima, Yudhishtira performed a puja and tied a sacred thread on to his hand. Mahabharata is also mentioned about the Rakhi Festival or Raksha Bandhan celebrated by Draupadi or Panchali. Draupadi tied Rakhi to Lord Krishna and when Draupadi was in trouble with Kauravas Krishna protected him. It is also mentioned that Kunti, the Pandava Mata, tied Rakhi to Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna.
Raksha Bandhan is also associated with the story of Goddess Laxmi and King Bali, who was a great devotee of Lord Sri Maha Vishnu. King Bali performed a sacrifice to take Lord Vishnu along with him to his kingdom. As Lord Vishnu blesses his devotees with great boons he accepted to be a guard in Bali’s kingdom. But how Laxmi could tolerate this? She went straight to King Bali in a form of a poor Brahmin woman and requested to stay there till her husband returns back. The auspicious day has come – Shravan Pournami – the day to tie a sacred thread. Goddess Lakshmi tied the sacred thread to Bali. After tying the Raksha, she explained the whole matter. She requested him to send her husband Lord Vishnu along with her to Vaikunta or Vishnulok. As Bali was kind and generous, mainly devoted to Vishnu and his consort, he felt her sorrow as his own sisters’. Bali sacrificed his Lord for Lord’s wife and accepted to send Lord Vishnu along with Laxmi to Vaikuntam.
The story of the importance of Rakhi festival is mentioned in history which described the relationship between King Purushottam or Puru with Alexander The Great. In or around 300 B.C. Alexander the Great of Macedonia invaded India with his huge army. King Purushottam defended greatly with his furious war tactics. The great conqueror of the world, Alexander the great was afraid of Purushottam and called back his army from the battle field. Alexander was seriously worried of this incident. Alexander’s wife heard about the greatness of Rakhi festival and importance given to Raksha Bandhan by Hindus. Seeing her husband worrying, she went to King Purushottam and tied Rakhi to his hand got his blessings. King Purushottama accepted her as his sister and blessed her for wellness of her family. With that incident, when he got a chance to behead Alexander, he just hold back from the battle field.
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