Rakhi Festival: Celebrating The Sacred Bond Of Love Between Brothers And Sisters

By Author: Amareesh Prajapati
Total Articles: 2
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Indian culture has been known for the various festivals that are celebrated almost all year round. Family is the most important institution in the country. To celebrate the various relationships that make up the family structure, you will find one or the other festival, ritual or occasion. This is what makes the whole Indian social system so unique and one of a kind.
One such festival is Rakshabandhan or Rakhi. This festival celebrates the love, care and bonding that is shared between a brother and a sister. It is a spectacular manifestation of everlasting brother sister relation on earth. Like any other festival, the celebration styles and outlook of this festival also tend to change with time but its rituals, traditions and customs had remain the same over centuries.
The rituals associated with Rakshabandhan are simple. On the day of festival, after applying 'Tilak' on forehead, performing puja and aarti, a sister ties the Rakhi (a ceremonial band of sorts) on her brother's wrist and prays for his happy, prosperous, long and healthy life. The brother takes a pledge of protecting the sisters at all times and also ...
... gifts her in return. The ritual is followed generally by family get-togethers, exchange of gifts and sweets.
Even though the festival is associated with several Hindu mythological stories, it is still considered as a non religious festival the world over. Especially in India, followers of almost every religion celebrate this festival in one way or the other. People tend to vary the ritual in their own way to show their love for their brother or sister. But the core essence is maintained-the tying of a band on the wrist of a brother by a sister. The festival holds such craze in the country that even if the brothers and sisters stay away from each other in different cities or even countries, they try to be together at least on this day and celebrate their relationship.
The festival of Rakshabandhan is a beautiful way of celebrating the bond between a brother and a sister, the love that they have and the memories that they have shared. It is that time of the year that families wait for, all over the world. Even non-Indian people like to mark this occasion and show their love towards their brother or sister. Rakhi is slowly becoming a world festival with its simple rituals and the beautiful meaning it holds behind the occasion.