Rakshabandkhan or Rakhibandkhan is a popular Hindu festival , celebrated on the full moon day of the month Shravan (July - August). [1] [2] [3] On this day, the sisters put sacred armbands (called “rakhas”) on their brothers to protect them from evil forces, and the young man, in turn, gives her sister a gift and pledges to the end of her life to protect her and patronize her. At the end of the ceremony, brother and sister give each other various sweets. On the same day, the brahmans change their sacred Brahman cord to a new one.
The ritual is not necessarily performed between brothers and sisters; A girl, tying a cancer to the hand of a young man, can thereby become his adoptive sister. In Indian history, there have been many cases in which women asked for protection and patronage in such a way from men who were not their brothers and some were not even Hindus. There are also cases when the rulers went to war in order to protect the girl who once had bound them to cancer. Rakhs can also be tied up in other cases, for example, simply as an expression of solidarity, as was done during the Indian struggle for independence.
According to the Hindu tradition, during the war the virgins and asuras Indra could not win up over the mighty demon Vritra . Only after the husband of Indra tied a silk cord with special strength on her husband's wrist, Indra defeated Vritra and conquered her heavenly abode from the asuras.
Notes
- ↑ Raksha Bandhan BBC .
- ↑ Festivals - Rakhi (Raksha Bandhan) UCLA .
- Akh Rakhi: The Raksha Bandhan Festival.
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