The story behind the day
Rakṣā Bandhan, "the knot of protection," is the Hindu festival of the bond between brothers and sisters. It is kept on the full moon of the month of Śrāvaṇa, in July or August. A sister ties a rakhi, a protective thread, on her brother's wrist, marks his forehead with a tilak and offers him sweets, and he gives her a gift and pledges to protect her. Older sources describe the thread as a charm tied by a household priest, and several stories from the Purāṇas are told to explain it.[1–5]
Origins
No single story is held to be the source. The medieval digests describe a rite on the full moon of Śrāvaṇa in which the household priest ties a protective packet of rice grains and mustard on the king's wrist, with a mantra recalling the thread that bound King Bali. A story from the Bhaviṣyottara Purāṇa tells of Indra's wife tying such an amulet on him before he overcame the asuras. Other tales are told of Lakṣmī and Bali, but a modern scholar warns that they lack firm textual grounding and contradict one another.[4–5, 8]
What it marks
Today the festival honours the tie between brothers and sisters and the pledge of protection that goes with it. Its name joins rakṣā, protection, and bandhana, tying. It is not confined to siblings: friends and neighbours who are close may tie a rakhi, and the string is said to make them brother and sister. Observers also note the social reading of the pledge. Brothers are expected to look after their sisters' interests in a society in which daughters often outlive their fathers, and one critical study sees in the same custom a means of keeping women in a subordinate place.[2, 9–10]
How it came to be
The sibling form seems to be a later development of the priest's rite. In the later medieval period the thread of protection came to carry a duty for brothers, and in northern India family priests still tie a charmed thread on their patrons on this day. In 1905 the day took on a political meaning in Bengal: on 16 October, when the partition took effect, crowds tied rakhis on the wrists of friends and strangers as a pledge of unity, and at Rabindranath Tagore's call Hindus and Muslims tied them on one another.[4, 8, 11]
How it is kept
In the morning a sister ties the rakhi on her brother's right wrist, marks his forehead and offers sweets, and he gives money, clothing or another gift. The same full moon has other names and forms. On the western coast it is Narali Purnima, when flowers and a coconut are offered to the sea so that voyages may be safe, and for Brahmin communities it is Upakarma or Avani Avittam, a day for the sacred thread.[3, 6–7]
Sources
Each statement above was checked against published sources; the verdict says whether it stood as written, was corrected or was hedged.
- VerifiedJ. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism; P. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. V part 1; Amit Kumar, One More Thread of Promised Protection: Debriefing Raksha-Bandhan, dialog.
- VerifiedJ. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism; Amit Kumar, One More Thread of Promised Protection: Debriefing Raksha-Bandhan, dialog; P. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. V part 1.
- VerifiedJ. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism; P. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. V part 1; Encyclopedia.com.
- VerifiedP. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. V part 1; Amit Kumar, One More Thread of Promised Protection: Debriefing Raksha-Bandhan, dialog; Encyclopedia.com.
- VerifiedP. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. V part 1; Amit Kumar, One More Thread of Promised Protection: Debriefing Raksha-Bandhan, dialog.
- VerifiedP. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. V part 1; Amit Kumar, One More Thread of Promised Protection: Debriefing Raksha-Bandhan, dialog.
- VerifiedAmit Kumar, One More Thread of Promised Protection: Debriefing Raksha-Bandhan, dialog; Encyclopedia.com.
- VerifiedAmit Kumar, One More Thread of Promised Protection: Debriefing Raksha-Bandhan, dialog; Encyclopedia.com.
- VerifiedJ. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism; P. V. Kane, History of Dharmaśāstra, vol. V part 1; Amit Kumar, One More Thread of Promised Protection: Debriefing Raksha-Bandhan, dialog.
- VerifiedJ. G. Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism; Amit Kumar, One More Thread of Promised Protection: Debriefing Raksha-Bandhan, dialog.
- VerifiedV. K. Saxena; Amit Kumar, One More Thread of Promised Protection: Debriefing Raksha-Bandhan, dialog.