northern lights

northern lights
image

Monday 21 April 2014

Raksha Bandhan




Raksha Bandhan is the 18th festival in the series of 'A to Z' challenge'


\\


 The bond between a brother and a sister is pure, chaste and sublime. There is no ulterior motive behind the love and affection which the siblings share between them. Raksha Bandhan is a festival which makes this bond stronger. This festival is celebrated in the month of August. On this day sisters tie a thread on the wrist of their brothers and pray for their long life. The brothers, on their part,  give an assurance that they will protect the sisters. The brothers give gifts to the sisters.
Add caption
Add caption
                                                                     


During these days colourful Rakhis  decorate the shops. These days instead colourful threads, the Rakhis made of gold and silver are also available.


Every family has its own convenience to celebrate the event. In our family we assemble at one place and celebrate the festival jointly. It is also becomes a family get together. These days everybody is very busy and hardly get time for social visits. The festival provides an opportunity to meet each other, have lunch together and also celebrate together. The bond between the brother and sister induces the bonding of the whole family. Most of the festivals are about eating. Many kinds of special dishes are prepared for this  get together

                King Alexander of Macedonia was shaken by the fury of the Indian king Puru in his first attempt. Upset by this, Alexander's wife, who had heard of the Rakhi festival, approached King Puru. King Puru accepted her as his sister and when the opportunity came during the war, he refrained from Alexander.   There are many stories relating to the origin of this festival.   It is  believed that queen Karnavati, the widow of King of Chittor, sent a rakhi to the Mughal King Humayun,  to protect her.

 When the sisters and brothers are not in the same city, the sisters send Rakhis to the brothers by post.

Words 285 Day18

Pics courtesy google








 

18 comments:

  1. this is one festival i celebrate without miss every year .. though its nt a family gathering, its no less fun. the thought of having to send rakhi by posts n nt tieing it directly in the coming years, makes me a lil sad!

    http://swathishenoy.blogspot.in/2014/04/r-for-regret.html?m=1
    a-z participant

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a nice write up , Usha Ma'm ! Thanks for explaining it with the stories , that makes it all the more interesting ! Here we have something similar, the 'Karthikai Deepam' festival, which also concentrates on the bro-sis relationship :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Sreeja There are similar functions every where but names are changed.

      Delete
  3. i don't have a brother, we are two sisters....but i have a rakhi brother, to whom i have been tying rakhi all these years and he has been the best brother one could have ever wished for!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Titli. Rakhi brothers are very loving.

      Delete
  4. I never had a brother but I never missed not having one...I celebrated all kinds of festivals with my sister ...Infact we even made up our own sister's day ...Another nice festival by the way :)

    R for Ready-Random Thoughts Naba

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Naba thanks a lot. Sisters are very close to each other. They are more than friends.

      Delete
  5. I dont have a brother so never really celebrated this festival. Recently, I saw that a friend who has 2 daughters, made the two sisters tie Rakhi to each other and that truly celebrates the spirit of Rakhi, to be with each other through thick and thin!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The idea of two sisters tying rakhi to each other is brilliant.

      Delete
  6. I have always wished I had a sister, an elder sister. Though this festival is not celebrated down South, I would have liked to receive a rakhi from her. Maybe in my next birth :)

    Destination Infinity

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rajesh, you have several sisters in blogsphere who wish you success You can count me as one. God bless you!.

      Delete
  7. Rakhi purnima has always been a special festival,this post brought back so many wonderful memories... The bond between siblings is priceless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Reshma the bond between the siblings is matchless.

      Delete
  8. lovely stories behind a very beautiful festival. Down in tamilnadu, during pongal, a similar festival is celebrated where sister prays for her brother and they share gifts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Asha for the sweet comments. I was not aware of a similar festival in Tamilnadu.

      Delete
  9. for years now my sister had been tying my brother rakhi on my behalf. This is one of my favorite festival :)

    ReplyDelete