Origin of Raksha Bandhan Festival
The festival of Raksha Bandhan is known to have originated
centuries before and there are several stories related to the celebration of
this special festival. Some of the various accounts related to Hindu
mythology are described below:
Indra Dev and Sachi- According to the ancient legend of
Bhavishya Purana, once there was a fierce battle between Gods and demons. Lord
Indra- the principal deity of sky, rains, and thunderbolts who was fighting the
battle on the side of the Gods was having a tough resistance from the powerful
demon King, Bali. The war continued for a long time and did not come to a
decisive end. Seeing this, Indra's wife Sachi went to the Lord Vishnu who gave
her a holy bracelet made up of cotton thread. Sachi tied the holy thread around
the wrist of her husband, Lord Indra who ultimately defeated the demons and
recovered the Amaravati. The earlier account of the festival described these
holy threads to be amulets that were used by women for prayers and were tied
to their husbands when they were leaving for war. Unlike, the present times,
those holy threads were not limited to brother-sister relationships.
King Bali and Goddess Lakshmi- As per an account of
Bhagavata Purana and Vishnu Purana, when Lord Vishnu won the three worlds from
the demon King Bali, he was asked by the demon king to stay beside him in the
palace. The Lord accepted the request and started living with the demon king.
However, Goddess Lakshmi, wife of Lord Vishnu wanted to return to his native
place of Vaikuntha. So, she tied the rakhi around the wrist of a demon king, Bali, and made him a brother. On asking about the return gift, Goddess Lakshmi asked
Bali to free her husband from the vow and let him return to Vaikuntha. Bali
agreed to the request and Lord Vishnu returned to his place with his wife,
Goddess Lakshmi.
Reason for the celebration of this festival
The festival of Raksha Bandhan is observed as a symbol of
duty between brothers and sisters. The occasion is meant to celebrate any type
of brother-sister relationship between men and women who may not be
biologically related.
On this day, a sister ties a rakhi around the wrist of her
brother in order to pray for his prosperity, health and well-being. The brother
in return offers a gifts and promises to protect his sister from any harm and
under every circumstance. The festival is also celebrated between
brother-sister belonging to distant family members, relatives or cousins.
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