Men Free Blog

In India, Rakhi is celebrated with lot of fun and frolic. Besides tying rakhis on the brother’s hand, gift exchanges, relishing tempting and mouth watering sweets, lots of other elements are also present. These acts make the Rakhi festival all the more interesting and one is always looking forward for this day to arrive.

Mehendi:
Ladies have always been fond of putting Mehendi on their palms. But during the festival of Rakhi Mehendi has special importance. On the occasion of Rakhi they decorate each others’ palms with different styles of Mehendi such as Marwadi, Shekhawati or Mumbaiya style. Thus Mehendi has become a part of the Rakhi festival.

Dressing of Brothers and Sisters:
Brothers: On the auspicious day of Rakhi the brothers usually prefer to go for traditional outfits like Kurta-Payjamas, Pathan Suits, Kurta-Jeans etc. Sometimes they also like to wear formal outfits like Shirt with Trousers or Shirts with Jeans.
Sisters: The sisters, if married, mostly love to tie designer sarees with little or heavy zari work. The unmarried sisters go for Salwar-Kurta, Chudidaar-Kurta, Saree, Lehengas, Parellels-Short Kurtas or other apparels.

Rakhi Cards:
In modern times, when a large number of the brothers and sisters stay away from each other due to their educational, job or married life responsibilities, they send Rakhi-Cards to each other. They express their feelings towards each other with the help of beautiful Rakhi-Cards, with a printed message, available in the market. The sisters, who are not able to reach their brothers on this auspicious day, send the Rakhi for their brothers through postal or courier services.

Markets:
On the festive occasion of Rakhi the markets are decorated profusely. Wide variety of colorful and beautiful fancy and designer Rakhi is available in the market. These are made of Resham or Zari threads and are decorated with different items like beads, semi-precious stones or imitation jewellery, sometimes also with silver and gold. Price of Rakhi varies according to the materials used in making them.

Happy Rakshabandhan !!! Let the celebrations begin.

On the auspicious day of Rakhi all the sisters and brothers get up early in the morning. They wear new clothes on this occasion and get ready for their special festival. Generally there is a ‘Shubh-Muhurt’ for performing the tying of Rakhi to the brothers. Therefore they get ready accordingly.

Sisters decorate a ‘Thali’ (A Plate) especially for the occasion of Rakhi. They keep all the necessary items like Roli (for Tilak), Akshat (rice grains for Tilak), Diya or Deepak (for performing the Arti of their brother), Sweets and the Rakhi in that beautifully decorated Thali. First of all the sisters put Tilak on the forehead of their brother and then stick some of the Akshat to the same Tilak. Then they perform the Arti of their brothers. After that they tie the Rakhi, preferably, on the right wrist of their brothers.

While performing the tying of the Rakhi on to the brothers, sisters generally chant the following ‘mantra’…
“Yena baddho Balee raajaa daanavendro mahaabalah
tena twaam anubadhnaami rakshe maa chala maa chala”
This is a ‘mantra’ mentioned in the ‘Hindu Shastras’ and it means…
“I am tying a Rakhi on you, like the one on mighty demon king Bali. Be firm, O Rakhi, do not falter.”

After tying the Rakhi the sisters sweeten the mouth of their brothers with sweets.

Then it is the brother’s turn to give some gifts to their sisters. This gift can be either in cash or in kind. Sometimes the sisters also give return gifts to their brothers.

Thus on the festive occasion of Rakhi the brothers and sisters wish happy long life, success, prosperity and health to each other. In last all of them seek the blessings of their parents and other elderly people in their family. After that they go to visit their relatives and to exchange the greetings with them.

Rakhi is the sacred amulet which comprises not only a sister’s love and emotions but also good wishes for her brother’s long life and well-being. Some more intimate touch can be added to this amulet by taking a little pain for these homemade Rakhis. This year try this simple and easy method of Rakhi making and impress your brothers with your creativity.

Anmol Handmade Rakhi
Required materials:
A silk thread reel (color of your choice, preferably red or green)
A cotton thread reel (matching to the silk reel color)
Toothbrush (an old one)
Scissors
Glue
Small artificial pearls (10-12)

Method:
Take the silk thread reel and cut its 20-25 pieces, each one around 25 inches long.
Hold all the pieces in such a way that both of their ends meet each other and then fold the entire bundle of threads at the mid point.
Take the cotton reel and tie the bundle with the help of cotton thread just 4-5 inches below the mid point.
Divide the longer portion of the thread bundle into two equal parts.
Plait both the divided portions separately and tie a small piece of cotton thread at both the ends leaving a margin of 2 inches. Thus the longer portion makes the string part of Rakhi.
The smaller part of the Rakhi is still in loops because of the fold. Take the scissors and cut the loops right at its center. This will make the central part of the Rakhi.
Take the toothbrush and comb that central part in all the directions in such a manner that a circle of the tiny threads is prepared.
Both the ends of the strings must also be brushed. Brushing the threads will make it even softer and give it a feathery look.
Finally stick the small pearls on the central part of the Rakhi with the help of glue.
Remarks:
The pearls stuck in a random way will appear as dew on the flower with the red silk thread background.
While the same pearls stuck on green silk thread background will look like dew on the grass.
This central part of the Rakhi can be decorated in various creative ways with different decorative materials.

Hindu scriptures and mythology is the source of all the Hindu rituals and festivals. One can find explanations for all the Hindu traditions and customs in the religious Hindu epics. Therefore the origin of Rakhi celebrations is also rooted in the Hindu mythology.

There is no confirm date and time available about the history of Rakhi festival but the story goes as follows…

In the Vedic period, on a ‘Shravan Poornima’ day (Full Moon Day of the Hindu month of Shravan), the deities and the demons were fighting a battle against each other. Unfortunately the demons were in a stronger position as compared to the deities. The king of the deities, Lord Indra, was very much worried about the result of the battle. His wife Indrani (also known as Shashikala) could not see him worried and prayed to the almighty. Indrani was a religious lady so she prepared a Talisman with her religious power and tied it around Indra’s right wrist. She believed that this Talisman will safeguard Indra from the attack made by the demons. She was actually right about her belief as that day the deities won the battle and Lord Indra escaped unhurt.

As this Talisman had the power of protecting the one who holds it therefore it was called ‘Raksha Sutra’ and the ceremony of tying the Talisman was called ‘Raksha Bandhan’. And since this ceremony took place on ‘Shravan Poornima’ day therefore it has become a tradition to celebrate ‘Raksha Bandhan’ on the ‘Shravan Poornima’ day every year.