Raksha Bandhan is the 18th festival in the series of 'A to Z' challenge'
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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.
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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
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!
ReplyDeletehttp://swathishenoy.blogspot.in/2014/04/r-for-regret.html?m=1
a-z participant
Thanks Swathi.
ReplyDeleteThis 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 :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Sreeja There are similar functions every where but names are changed.
Deletei 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!
ReplyDeleteThanks Titli. Rakhi brothers are very loving.
DeleteI 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 :)
ReplyDeleteR for Ready-Random Thoughts Naba
Naba thanks a lot. Sisters are very close to each other. They are more than friends.
DeleteI 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!
ReplyDeleteThe idea of two sisters tying rakhi to each other is brilliant.
DeleteI 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 :)
ReplyDeleteDestination Infinity
Rajesh, you have several sisters in blogsphere who wish you success You can count me as one. God bless you!.
DeleteRakhi purnima has always been a special festival,this post brought back so many wonderful memories... The bond between siblings is priceless.
ReplyDeleteYes Reshma the bond between the siblings is matchless.
Deletelovely 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.
ReplyDeleteThank you Asha for the sweet comments. I was not aware of a similar festival in Tamilnadu.
Deletefor years now my sister had been tying my brother rakhi on my behalf. This is one of my favorite festival :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
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