Happy Raksha Bandhan 2018
The festival of Raksha Bandhan, also known as Rakhi festival, is celebrated as a tribute to the loving relationship between brothers and sisters every year. The word Raksha Bandhan in Sanskrit is “the bond of security”. The festival is a symbol of love and bond, however, it is not limited to brothers and sisters only. On this day, the sister is attached to a sacred thread called ‘Rakhi’ on her brother’s wrist and prays for his long life. On the second hand, the brother promises to live with her for a lifetime. Gifts, sweets are exchanged and dishes are prepared at home. This year the Raksha Bandhan festival will be celebrated on August 26. The markets have already been prepared with buyers who purchase shops to buy sweets, clothes and rakhi.
There are many folklore around this festival. One such story is about King Baali and Goddess Lakshmi. When King Bali organized Lord Vishnu hostage then Lakshmi tied a thread on Bali’s wrist and asked them to mark the relationship and asked something. King Baali could not deny and sent Lord Vishnu back. Another story says that once Lord Krishna was flying a kite, the string cut his finger. Seeing the blood, Draupadi ran away and torn to bind his sari around his bleeding finger. Krishna was left with gratitude and always promised Draupadi to protect him.
Raksha Bandhan is celebrated in countries like India, Nepal and Mauritius. Those who are not siblings also celebrate this festival to fulfill their relationship. While environmentalists bind the rakhi to trees, there are many people who attach rakhi to their pets or friends. The festival celebrates unity and love.
Origin of the Raksha Bandhan Festival
There are many stories about celebrating this great festival. Some of the different accounts related to Hindu mythology are described below:
- According to the ancient legend of Indra Dev and ancient grand ancient Puranas, once there was a fierce battle between God and demons. Lord Indra – the gods of sky, rain and thunder who were fighting in favor of the gods, the powerful monster King was making tough resistance to Bali. The war continued for a long time and there was not a decisive end. Seeing this, the wifeof Lord Indra went to the true Lord Vishnu, who gave him a sacred bracelet made of cotton yarn. The truth tied up the sacred thread around the wrist of her husband, Lord Indra, who finally defeated the demons and recovered Amravati. Earlier accounts of the festival had described these sacred thread as Amults, which were used by women for prayers and when they were going out for war, they were bound by their husbands. In contrast, at that time, those sacred threads were not limited to siblings.
- According to King Bali and Goddess Laxmi the Bhagwat Puran and the Vishnu Puran, when Lord Vishnu won the three worlds with 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 Lakshmi 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. When asked about the return gift, Goddess Lakshmi asked her husband to take an oath from Bali and return him to Vaikuntha. King Bali agreed on request and the Lord Vishnu returned to his place with his wife Devi Lakshmi.
- Santoshi mother- It is said that two sons of Lord Ganesh, that is, auspicious and Lab was disappointed that they had no sister. He asked a sibling from his father who, after all, forced his sister to interfere with Narada. Thus The Lord Shree Ganesh created Santoshi Ma through Divine Fire and two sons of Lord Ganesha received their sister for safety opportunity.
- Lord Shree Krishna and Draupadi – on the basis of an account of the Mahabharata, Pandavas’ wife Draupadi tied Rakhi with Lord Krishna while Kunti tied Abhishek with the granddaughter before the epic war.
- Yama and Yamuna – Another legend says that God’s death, Yama did not go to her sister Yamuna for 12 years, which eventually became very sad.. On the advice of Ganga, Yama went to visit her sister Yamuna, who was very happy and admitted to the hospital by her brother Yama. It pleased Yama who had 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 she could see him again and again.