Raksha Bandhan 1935

Raksha Bandhan (literally the bond of protection) is celebrated on the full moon (Purnima) of the month of Shravana. Sisters tie a rakhi, a sacred thread woven of cotton, silk, or gold, around their brothers' right wrists. In return, brothers give gifts and solemnly pledge to protect their sisters for the coming year. The simple act of tying and receiving a thread carries the weight of an ancient covenant: older than any kingdom, any law.

The festival carries many regional identities. For Brahmins across India, this same full moon is Upakrama (also called Sravani or Avani Avittam): the auspicious day to change the sacred thread (yajnopavita) after the four months of Chaturmas. In Maharashtra's coastal communities, it is Narali Purnima, when fishermen offer a coconut to the sea, asking for safe sailing as the monsoon season begins to close. In Bengal and Odisha, the festival is called Jhulana Purnima: the day Krishna swings in a garden of flowers.

History has woven deeper meanings into the rakhi. Queen Rani Karnavati of Chittor famously sent a rakhi to Mughal Emperor Humayun, invoking the bond of brother and sister to seek his protection, and Humayun, moved by it, marched his armies to her aid, though he arrived too late. In 1905, poet Rabindranath Tagore launched a mass Rakhi Utsav to promote Hindu-Muslim unity against the British partition of Bengal: urging citizens of all faiths to tie rakhis to each other as a symbol of an unbroken India.