Raksha Bandhan 2025: Date, significance and history
The joyful festival celebrates the bond between sisters and brothers. On this occasion, a sister ties a string bracelet or amulet, usually made from red or yellow thread, called a Rakhi, on the right wrist of her brother, and the siblings exchange sweets and wishes.
The Rakhi symbolises the bond (bandhana) of mutual protection (raksha) between brothers and sisters, with a particular emphasis on the brother's role in protecting the sister.
According to the Hindu calendar, the festival takes place on the full-moon day (purnima) of the month of Shravana, which usually occurs in August in the Gregorian calendar.
The practice of tying protective threads has a long history.
The ancient Atharvaveda mentions tying the pratisara, a protective thread used in rituals.
The ritual of tying a protective kautuka bracelet is described in the Agniveshya Grihyasutra. According to Britannica, the Atharvaveda Parishishta of the first centuries mentions that a king's Atharvan priest should tie a raksha bandhana amulet on the king on the full moon day of Shravana.
The Bhavishya Purana also mentions tying protective threads. In Chapter 137 of the last part of the text (the Bhavishyottara Purana), the god Krishna advises Yudhishthira, the eldest of the Pandava brothers in the Mahabharata, to wear a rakhi. Krishna tells him of how, when the god Indra was battling with the asuras (demons), Indra's wife, Indrani (also known as Shachi), tied a protective bracelet, a 'rakshabandha,' on his wrist to make him invulnerable.
The Bhagavat Puran and Vishnu Puran also mention the ritual. After Vishnu conquers the three worlds from King Bali, he asks Vishnu to live in his palace.
Vishnu's wife, the goddess Lakshmi, is not happy about this arrangement. She ties a rakhi on King Bali, making him a brother. Honoured by the gesture, Bali grants her a wish. Lakshmi requests that Vishnu return home.
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