India , the land of God and Goddesses, rituals and zillion of festivals. Another one of our unique festivals is just around the corner...It's the festival which celebrates the bond shared by the brother and sister popularly known as Rakhi. Rakhi or Rakhsha Bandhan is the festival during which a sister ties a holy thread on her brothers wrist and wishes for his safety and well being . The brother on the other hand pledges to protect her.
The ritual involves a Puja (offering of prayers), tying of thread around the brothers wrist, applying tilak (colour) on brothers forhead and feeding sweets to the brother by the sister. The brother then bestows money or gifts to his sister.
This is a popular festival in India , especially in the northern states of the country and the sister and the brother, irrespective of the distance separating them make it a point to be together on this festive day. If a sister is unable to be there with her brother then she makes sure that her rakhi is delivered to her brother timely.
So, the postal service is on an overdrive in India in this season and the markets are overflowing with a variety of threads to choose from.... from simple threads to designer ones... The latest to hit the stands is the angry bird themed Rakhi :)
It is indeed a special day of the year for the brother and sister ...and now I am off to buy one for my brother...can't wait to tie it on his wrist :)
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| Image by google: Rakhi threads |
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| Image by google: rakhi threads being sold in the market |
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| Image by google: Rakhi threads |
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| Image by google: angry bird themed rakhis |
21 comments:
I have often seen this festival on tv serial. It seems great festival. Angry bird cute rakis.
India is just culturally rich. It shows by the different festivals they have.
Indeed Hina... its a lovely festival and the way it is celebrated varies from state to state.. In Rajisthan the Rakhi is tied to both the brother as well as the sister :)
Thanks Franc.. and yeah its great to have so many festivities all year round :)
I love the Indian culture. A lot of history and festivities. Who doesn't like festivals? I hope I can witness one of them
Now is the right time to plan a trip Karen ... our biggest festival of all i.e., Diwali will be taking place around October -November :)
I've seen several Hindi movies and this festivity when I worked in Riyadh. Nice movies indeed.
Ah... We Indians wouldn't be the same without our cinema..I am glad Fernando, that you liked the movies :)
So full of beautiful colors! I love reading about celebrations.
Glad you liked the post Michelle:)
do you know that india is in my travel bucket list next year? this year i am off to vietnam and thailand. last year was singapore and malaysia.
reading this makes me want to pull the time sooner for next year to happen.
http://www.mariaronabeltran.com/
I am so glad to hear that Maria :) do keep Kerala, Goa and Pondicherry on the itinerary!!
Its such a cute festival... What is better than celebrating our siblings.. Beautiful write up:-)
Thanks Eli :) good to hear from you!
I miss celebrating the festivals in our country , i've been away for almost 10 years
I had a good laugh thinking about wearing an angry bird Rakhi for a year or so... What a riot. Happy Rahki Day!
Elizabeth
Although I don't have siblings, I would love the be able to experience Rakhi festival someday. Don't know if I would buy the Angry Bird rakhis though, I'd probably get the simple styles instead.
Hey Buboy, I feel your pain...10 years is a long time and nothing beats celebrating festivals with family :)
Hey Elizabeth.. Rakhi is worn these days just for the day of the festival...Thank God it's not for the whole year otherwise an angry bird rakhi could get embarrassing! ;)
Hey Karen, it's a delightful little festival of ours.. I am sure you will love it , when you do experience it :)
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