Raksha Bandhan – ‘The Bond of Protection’ was popularised when Rani Karnavati, the widowed queen of Chittor sent a ‘rakhi’ to Emperor Humayun when she realised she couldn’t defend against the invasion by Bahadur Shah, the Sultan of Gujarat. Some stories also suggests that Draupadi tied rakhi to Lord Krishna.
Raksha Bandhan was practiced mainly in North India, Central India and Western India. It was popularised in South India roughly 20 years ago when RSS campaigned to spread awareness about the festival.
Before it became a countrywide festival, it was just a pretty little ritual where the married sisters would visit their brothers’ house every once in a while to celebrate their bond. There’s another ritual which is similar to this called ‘Saluno’ where sisters place shoots of barley behind the ears of their brothers.
Modern India increased the popularity through technology, movies, migration, etc. Symbolic as it is, sisterhood has gained more emotional value. Sisters are making handmade rakhis and putting it up on social media with #handmaderakhi.
– Anukul Thete
Sir J.P. High School 