August 29, 2015 – Rakshabandhan Celebrations @ Bangalore, Karnataka, India

A special one for me!

For those who don’t know what Rakshabandhan is, the Wikipedia definition is “a popular, traditionally Hindu, annual rite, or ceremony to celebrate the special bond between the brother and the sister”. On this day, the sister ties as amulet a.k.a. Rakhi to remind her brother to protect her through thick and thin. Gosh, such a deep meaning in a simple thread!

Anyway, we have been celebrating Rakshabandhan for as long as I remember. I do have three sisters and many cousin sisters, so it has been a part of my life for many years and I really look forward to this day as I get to gift them something during the ceremony, which I really love.

In 2015, I was in Bangalore with my first sister Minu Tai, so, we decided to celebrate it at my apartment in a traditional fashion. My other sisters Shubhu Tai & Dikshu Tai sent their Rakhis to her so that she can tie them on my wrist. We dressed up in a nice traditional outfit to commemorate the occasion. We had our friends, Akash and Harshal, to accompany us during the ceremony which was really cool.
Here’s the picture of the group.

So, there are many variations of observing this wonderful Hindu festival. Some people prefer to go quite extravagant, whereas others try to keep it light. We chose the latter one.

I think it was a team effort to put the Rangoli on the floor. The white powder that you see in the below picture surrounding the blanket like seat is Rangoli.
Then the brother is made to sit on that pedestal like seat. Once everything is set, the sister takes the plate which holds the worshipping material and circles it before the brother’s face. Gosh, it is so hard to explain it in plain English, without a video. 😁

Once the plate circling is done, the sister ties the amulet/Rakhi to the brother’s hand and (optional) touches his feet. What followed this is that the brother is *supposed to* put his gift in the same plate/thali that was used for the ceremony.

I think that’s what concludes the ceremony.
Here’s the picture of Minu Tai tying Rakhi to me.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention that they feed each other a couple pieces of sweets.
Here’s Minu Tai doing the same.

And if you thought I would end this blog post without posting a self loving picture of myself, you were wrong. Here’s the solo pic, which I loved BTW.

Till then, take care, everyone!