Raksha Bandhan is an auspicious occasion celebrated on full moon day of the Hindu month, Shravana. The day of Rakhi is also considered as Sharavan Purnima as per Hindu calendar. As per Hindu culture & custom the festival is celebrated as the day where a sister ties a beautiful handmade colourful thread around her brother’s wrist. And in return of it brother takes the vows of her safety and protection.

The thread knot by sister is the symbol of protection from ever bad evil. It’s tough to understand the kind of bond shared between brother and sister. On this auspicious occasion sister follow the tradition of tying holy thread on brother’s wrist, sharing sweets and blessing each other for safety, success and prosperity.

On the other hand a brother presents gifts and blessing to their sisters with a promise of taking care of her till her last breath.
The beauty of every festival is that it holds some great stories behind sit, which is usually told by grand-parents or parents for making future generation understand the importance of each festival. Numerous tales have been associates with Rakhi festival so, let’s find out what are the stories behind this auspicious occasion of Raksha Bandhan.
Krishna and Draupadi
Out of all the Rakhi stories, story of Krishana and Draupadi is very popular in Hindu Mythology. According to the one version of Sankranti, Krishana managed to hurt his index finger. When Rukmini, the queen of Lord Krishana saw the flow of blood she send the help for bandage instantly. Draupadi who was sitting a bit far when saw all this she just simply tore her saree immediately and covered his wound. Lord Krishana got touched byseeing such unconditional love, care and affection by her and said “Akshyam” means “May it be unending”. Krishana took the mantle of Draupadi’s protection and care as well upon himself. And then world knows how he protected her by blessing her with endless saree on the day when she was embrace and disrobed in full public view by the Kauravas.

Yama – Lord of Death and Yamuna
According to another incident mentioned in Hindu mythology, the ritual of Raksha Bandhan would be followed by Yamuna the river flows in India and Yama- the Lord of Death. It’s said that when Yamuna ties a Rakhi to Yama, then he granted her immortality as a blessing.
And with this he declared that the brother who was tied a Rakhi and will promise to take care and protect his sister would also become immortal.

Indra and Indrani
The story of Indra and Indrani is a proof of that care& protection. During the war between God and demons, wherein Indra was losing from King Bali, Indra’s wife prayed to Lord Vishnu for his safety and victory. He gave her a beautiful holy thread which she tied around his wrist. With its power of blessing he won the war with demons and since then a peace of holy thread become the protection against any evil for brothers in Hindu custom.

Hope you have enjoyed the post on Raksha Bandhan, as we tried hard enough to make it significant and meaningful by connecting it with Hindu mythology to modest ways of celebrating it. It’s a beautiful festival with unique significance that holds the family values found in India. Now-a-days it’s not just a festival celebrated in India but has gained global.

Wish you all a very Happy Raksha Bandhan!