Friday, August 12, 2011

City all set for Raksha Bandhan on 13th August

As soon as you think of Raksha Bandhan, the colorful band or Rakhi will come to your mind. Raksha Bandhan is celebrated every year on 'Shravan Purnima' (Full Moon Day of the Hindu month of Shravan), which generally falls in the month of August. In 2011, Raksha Bandhan falls on 13th of August. A girl(sister) ties a Rakhi to any guy she considers as her brother. The guy gives a gift to the sister.

R . A . K . H . I
R : Relationship
A : Affection
K : Knitting together
H : Him (Brother) & Her (Sister)
I : Interminably

Put them all together, they spell " RAKHI". Happy Rakhi to all you brothers and sisters!!!





The ritual of Raksha Bandhan essentially includes tying of sacred thread (which is called 'Rakhi' or 'Raksha Sutra') by the sisters, on their brothers' wrist. Before tying Rakhi, the sisters would perform an aarti, apply tilak (by mixing rice grains and roli) on their brother's forehead and then offer them sweetmeat.

After the ritual of tying Rakhi is over, the brothers would give their sisters some gift or money and promise them to help them when ever they need and protect them throughout their lifetime. In fact, offering gifts to sisters is a tradition of Raksha Bandhan.

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