Raksha Bandhan

Raksha Bandhan is a Hindu festival that celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters. A sister ties a decorated thread, called a rakhi, around her brother's wrist and prays for his well-being; in return, the brother gives her a gift and promises to protect her. The festival falls on the full moon (purnima) of the month of Shravana, usually in August.

The name means “the bond of protection”: raksha means “protection” and bandhan means “tie” or “bond”.

The ceremony

On the morning of Raksha Bandhan, families gather, often dressed in new clothes. A typical ceremony includes:

1. The sister prepares a tray (thali) with the rakhi, a lamp, rice, red powder (kumkum) and sweets.
2. She performs aarti, waving the lamp before her brother, and applies a tilak to his forehead.
3. She ties the rakhi on his right wrist while saying a prayer for his long life and happiness.
4. She feeds him a sweet, and he gives her a gift or money and promises to look after her.

Rakhis range from simple red and gold threads to elaborate designs with beads, sequins, and, for children, cartoon characters. Sisters who live far away often post rakhis to their brothers.

The stories behind it

• Indra and Shachi: in a story from the Bhavishya Purana, when the god Indra was losing a war against the demons, his wife Shachi (Indrani) tied a protective thread, blessed with mantras, around his wrist, and he was victorious. This suggests the thread was originally a protective amulet, not specific to siblings.
• Krishna and Draupadi: a popular tradition tells that when Krishna cut his finger, Draupadi tore a strip from her sari to bind it. Krishna promised to protect her, and later saved her honour when the Kauravas tried to strip her in the royal court. This story is a later folk tradition rather than part of the original Mahabharata.
• Yama and Yamuna: the river goddess Yamuna is said to have tied a rakhi on her brother Yama, the god of death, who granted immortality to her in return.
• Rani Karnavati and Humayun: a famous legend tells that the widowed queen of Chittor sent a rakhi to the Mughal emperor Humayun in 1535, asking for his help against an invader. Historians doubt the details, but the story is often told as an example of the rakhi crossing religious boundaries.

Rabindranath Tagore and Bengal

In 1905, when the British government partitioned Bengal, the poet Rabindranath Tagore called on Hindus and Muslims to tie rakhis on one another as a sign of unity and brotherhood in protest. Raksha Bandhan has since often been used to express solidarity beyond the family.

Related observances

On the same full moon, other communities celebrate different festivals. In south India, Brahmin men renew their sacred thread at Avani Avittam (Upakarma). On the coast of Maharashtra and Gujarat, fishing communities offer coconuts to the sea at Narali Purnima, marking the end of the monsoon and the start of the fishing season.

Raksha Bandhan today

Raksha Bandhan is now widely celebrated across India and the diaspora, including in Britain, and not only by Hindus. Many people tie rakhis on cousins, close friends treated as siblings, soldiers and public figures. Modern families often see the festival as celebrating mutual care between siblings, with brothers also tying rakhis on sisters, and sisters on each other.

Sources and further reading

• Christopher Fuller, The Camphor Flame, revised edn (Princeton University Press, 2004).
• Sumit Sarkar, The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, 1903–1908 (People's Publishing House, 1973).