Raksha Bandhan is the most loved festival of the year in India. This festival is all about the invaluable bond between brothers and sisters, of them reliving their bittersweet childhood memories, about sisters promising to love their brothers forever and brothers vowing to protect their sisters come what may. The most prominent feature of this festival is the rakhi gifts brothers shower their sisters with.
The festival of Raksha Bandhan falls on Shravan Purnima which is usually in august. This year, the auspicious occasion falls on August 15, coinciding with Independence Day.
Raksha Bandhan Legends
There are various legends that revolve around the origin of this festival. One of the more popular stories is that of Maharani Karnavati of Chittorgarh and Badshah Humayun.
When the fort of Chittorgarh was attacked by Bahadur Shah, the Rajput army was left helpless. The legend says that Karnavati sent a sacred thread to Humayun which was a subtle indication of her asking for protection. Humayun is believed to have quickly ridden to the fort to the rescue of Maharani Karnavati. Humayun fought to protect the life of his sister and the Rajputs of Chittorgarh.
Another legend says that during the Mahabharat age, Draupadi, the wife of Pandavas had tied a rakhi to Lord Krishna asking for protection in return.
Another sweet story is that of the death god Yama and his sister Yamuna. On Yamuna’s insistence on seeing her brother regularly as a rakhi gift, Yama decided to make her immortal.
Raksha Bandhan Significance
It is believed that both gods Ganesh and Saraswati descend on the day of Raksha Bandhan.
The sacred thread of rakhi emits the divine energy wave called the shaktitattva- both the brother and the sister benefit from it as the rakhi is tied.
It is also believed that the emotional power of the sister while tying a rakhi on her brother’s wrist has a very long lasting effect on the brother and his well-being.
Ritual
The sister performs aarti and applies tilak on the forehead of her brother before tying rakhi and then feeds sweets to her brother. The traditional rakhi puja goes like this-
"Suraj shakhan chhodian, Mooli chhodia beej
Behen ne rakhi bandhi / Bhai tu chir jug jee
Yena baddho Balee raajaa daanavendro mahaabalah
tena twaam anubadhnaami rakshe maa chala maa chala”
Choosing the right gift for your sister
Raksha Bandhan gifts are essentially the sweetest and most fun part of this sacred festival. Days before, brothers start stocking up cash to buy gifts for their loving sisters. What is quintessential is the love and feelings of the brothers hidden behind these gifts.
And while there can be an array of gifts you can choose from for your sister, we at Peachmode believe to retain the cultural essence of this festival and gift something traditional to your loving sisters(s)! After all, this traditional festival is best celebrated and nurtured the traditional way.
We are also making it easier by curating some amazing outfits in our special Rakhi collection to let your rakhi online shopping be more convenient. All you got to do is find out the style preference of your sister. Sneakily get to know her favourite color, whether she likes sarees or salwar suits or Indo-Western more. Then, just a click away, you can have the most beautiful rakhi gift delivered to your sister by Peachmode for you!
Peachmode Rakshabandhan Contest
To further make things fun, Peachmode has come up with a very interesting Rakhi contest. All you got to do is browse through our Raksha Bandhan collection, choose an outfit and post it on your social media handle tagging Peachmode and describing in 5 words why your sibling is the best. Lucky winners will get their chosen outfit as a gift from Peachmode. Now isn’t that the happiest Raksha Bandhan.
The contest goes live from July 19 and one winner will be announced every week. The contest runs for a span of one month! So get participating now!
And now, here are some curated outfit ideas to gift your sister to further enrich and inculcate the loving bond you share with her! Happy Raksha Bandhan!
