"[2] Raksha Bandhan[3] is a popular and traditionally Hindu annual rite or ceremony that is central to a festival of the same name celebrated in South Asia.

[10] In rural north India, where village exogamy is strongly prevalent, large numbers of married Hindu women travel back to their parents' homes every year for the ceremony.

[citation needed] Anthropologist Jack Goody, whose field study was conducted in Nandol, in Gujarat, describes Rakshabandhan as an "annual ceremony ... of northern and western India".

[36] Other descriptions of primary regions are of development economist Bina Agarwal ("In Northern India and Nepal this is ritualized in festivals such as raksha-bandhan.

'"[37]), and social scientist Prem Chowdhry ("... in the noticeable revival of the Raksha Bandhan festival and the renewed sanctity it has claimed in North India".[38]).

[39] Sociologist Yogendra Singh has noted the contribution of American anthropologist McKim Marriott to an understanding of the origins of the Raksha Bandhan festival.

The Brahman domestic priests of Kishan Garhi go to each patron and tie upon his wrist a charm in the form of a polychrome thread, bearing tassel "plums."

[43] In the crucial passage, Krishna says, "Parth (applied to any of the three sons of Kunti (also, Pritha), here with a particular empasis on Yudhishthira): When the sky is covered with clouds, and the earth dark with new, tender, grass, in that very Shravana month's full moon day, at the time of sunrise, according to remembered convention, a Brahmin should take a bath with perfectly pure water.

That very day, in the early afternoon (between noon and 3 PM) it is commended that a small parcel (bundle or packet) be prepared from a new cotton or silk cloth and adorned with whole grains of rice or barley, small mustard seeds, and red ocher powder, and made exceedingly wondrous, be placed in a suitable dish or receptacle.

[10] Anthropologist Leo Coleman writes: Rakhi and its local performances in Kishan Garhi were part of a festival in which connections between out-marrying sisters and village-resident brothers were affirmed.

In the "traditional" form of this rite, according to Marriott, sisters exchanged with their brothers to ensure their ability to have recourse—at a crisis, or during childbearing—to their natal village and their relatives there even after leaving for their husband's home.

[10] In rural north India, where village exogamy is strongly prevalent, large numbers of married Hindu women travel back to their parents' homes every year for the ceremony.

[11] Scholar Linda Hess writes:[12] Their brothers, who typically live with the parents or nearby, sometimes travel to their sisters' married home to escort them back.

[13] Folklorist Susan Snow Wadley writes: "In Savan, greenness abounds as the newly planted crops take root in the wet soil.

Beals reports, furthermore, that brothers in the electrified village of Namhalli near Bangalore tuned in to All India Radio in order to receive a time signal at the astrologically exact moment, and then tied such charms to their own wrists, with an accompaniment of broadcast Sanskrit mantras.

[16] According to author Vaijayanti Pandit, Raksha Bandhan traditionally celebrated in North India has acquired greater importance due to Hindi films.

Lightweight and decorative rakhis, which are easy to post, are needed in large quantities by the market to cater to brothers and sisters living in different parts of the country or abroad.

[18] Similarly, according to author Christophe Jaffrelot, This ceremony occurs in a cycle of six annual festivals which often coincides with those observed in Hindu society, and which Hedgewar inscribed in the ritual calendar of his movement: Varsha Pratipada (the Hindu new year), Shivajirajyarohonastava (the coronation of Shivaji), guru dakshina, Raksha Bandhan (a North Indian festival in which sisters tie ribbons round the wrists of their brothers to remind them of their duty as protectors, a ritual which the RSS has re-interpreted in such a way that the leader of the shakha ties a ribbon around the pole of the saffron flag, after which swayamsevaks carry out this ritual for one another as a mark of brotherhood)[19] Finally, the nation state in India has itself promoted this festival.

Broadcast mantras become the emblems of a new level of state power and the means of the integration of villagers and city dwellers alike into a new community of citizens.

Brother-sister bonds of love have also been greatly encouraged, visible in the noticeable revival of the Raksha Bandhan festival and the renewed sanctity it has claimed in north India.

[citation needed] In Nepal, Raksha Bandhan is referred to as Janai Purnima or Rishitarpani, and involves a sacred thread ceremony.

[47] The Hindu men change the thread they wear around their chests (janai), while in some parts of Nepal girls and women tie rakhi on their brother's wrists.

Ganesha agreed, and created a daughter named Santoshi Maa by divine flames that emerged from Ganesh's wives, Riddhi (Amazing) and Siddhi (Perfection).

They and the other women plead with their father, but to no avail; but then Narada appears and convinces Ganesha that the creation of an illustrious daughter will reflect much credit back onto himself.

Therefore, she decides to offer the rakhi to King Porus, who accepts the relationship after some hesitation, because he feels the need to apologize to Roxane, Darius's (a.k.a.

Interestingly, the rakhi episode with Porus is still to this day very popular in India and is cited as very early historical evidence for the origin of the authentic Hindu festival called Raksha Bandhan.

Although examples of that legend can be traced in internet forums, Indian newspapers, a children's book and an educational video, I was not able to find its ancient origin.Bound by a sacred gift, in happier hours, To prove a brother's undecaying faith; Now when the star of Kurnivati lowers, He rushes on to danger or to death.

He came to the beleaguered walls too late,Vain was the splendid sacrifice to save; Famine and death were sitting at the gate, The flower of Rajasthan had found a grave.

When Rani Karnavati, the widowed queen of the king of Chittor, realised that she could not defend against the invasion by the Sultan of Gujarat, Bahadur Shah, she sent a rakhi to Emperor Humayun.

According to a mid-seventeenth century Rajasthani account, Rani Karnavati, the Rana's mother, sent a bracelet as rakhi to Humayun, who gallantly responded and helped.