What was the last thing you searched for online? Why were you looking for it?
Today is full moon or Pooranmashi in India. It is an auspicious day for Hindus. It is also known as Rakhi Purnima.
On this day, sisters tie beautiful ornamental threads on their brother(s)’ wrists. This decorative thread is known as Rakhi. This festival is known as Raksha Bandhan. By tying Rakhi the sisters secure their brothers’ pledge of protecting them in times of need.
Since the date is set as per lunar calendar, planetary position and the Panchang or the almanac, it varies year to year. This year, every festival is falling on the cusp. That is why people are getting two days to celebrate each fest. Rakhi is today and tomorrow. Some are celebrating today. Some will be celebrating tomorrow. But the Government has given us off today. So, it’s fun day today.
With Rakhi the season of festivals begin in India. Soon after Rakhi Janmashtami is celebrated which is the birthday of Lord Krishna. Thereafter, every month there are tithis or dates on which some festival or the other will be celebrated including Ganesh Chaturthi (for ten days in Maharashtra and other parts of the country) Durga Puja(four days in Bengal and rest of the country) and Deepawali (two days), ending with Christmas in December.
India is a land of many faiths. Festivals of all faith are celebrated with equal vigour and joy in this Land Of Festivals.
On Rakhi there is an unusual rush of commuters by every possible means of transportation. Yesterday 6.81 Million people travelled by Metro alone in the National Capital Region covering three States which is a record in itself. Then there are commuters across regions. It is difficult to get train and air tickets as people rush from different parts of the country to reach home for the puja, tika ceremony and celebration.
On this day brothers travel to their sisters’ place and vice versa. My mother’s physiotherapist every year travels from Delhi to Mumbai, i.e. one Metro City to another, to his sister’s for Rakhi. The sweet sellers have a field day. The markets overflow with buyers. The Beauty Parlours have roaring business. The Mehendiwallas have long queues and charge sky high.
Rakhi is basically a festival of North India. But now all Metros, cities and towns have become cosmopolitan. Therefore, all festivals, whether North, East, West or South Indian, get celebrated all over the country. Thus, we find garbas being organised in States other than Maharashtra and Gujarat to which this Dance Festival belongs and is famous for. Interestingly, the Garba Festival is also the one in which matches are made as it is attended by entire families who dance in groups together to a particular rhythm with ornate sticks in hand. This is known as Garba Dance which is typically marked with the clicking sound of the sticks. As the night prolongs, the song beats get accelerated, so does the rhythm of the dance and swirl of the billowing embellished skirts or ghagras and heavily laden dupattas (long scarves). A clipping of garba fest just to show the zest of the dancers…
Oh! I got distracted. Coming to my last internet search…It was today and all about Rakhi….legends, images, different ways of celebrations… Brushing up my history…
There is a very interesting story (available on the net) – wherein Queen Karnavati of Chittaurgarh (Rajasthan) sent Rakhi to Mughal Emperor Humayun to seek protection from him when her kingdom got attacked by Muslim Sultan of Gujarat Bahadur Shah. Queen Karnavati was the widow of Rana Sangram Singh. Her son was a minor. The Sultan was powerful. She sent a special envoy with Rakhi to Badshah Humayun, who was engaged in Bengal expedition, which is in the far East while Chittaur is in the West. When Humayun received the Rakhi he was touched by the gesture and turned his army towards the West midway of the expedition.
However, he arrived late. Sultan had already captured the Fort of Chittaurgarh and the queen, along with all other ladies of the palace, had committed Jauhar, that is, happily immolated themselves to save from being massacred by the Muslim invaders. Jauhar is again a very fascinating historical act to which the Rajputana Queens and Princesses have succumbed time and again in order to protect their self respect. The act was immortalized by Rani Padmini when Badshah Allauddin Khilji captured Chittaurgarh. Of course, this was much before Queen Karnavati ‘s immolation. This clipping is part of a movie on Queen Padmini and how she defeated the lust ridden Khilji by performing Jauhar…along with the other ladies of the palace…
Thus, Rakhi became a symbol of protection transcending the bounds of religion. It was a cry for help from a sister to a brother. It can also be seen as a political manoeuvre. Nevertheless, Humayun took his revenge and defeated Bahadur Shah and Karnavati’s son was enthroned in Chittaur proving that the Queen’s petition for help and self sacrifice did not go waste.
Hence, in India, Rakhi is tied even to those who are not blood brothers but anyone (irrespective of faith and language) who is looked up to as a brother. Those who live abroad or to other remote parts of the country from where a quick travel is not possible Rakhi is sent by post or even mail and WhatsApp. These are known as e-Rakhi.
With change of time and fast pace of life many innovations have taken place. But the significance and fervour of the ritual have not died down. This is also a festival of gifts as brothers and sisters and their respective families exchange gifts as tokens of good will and fraternal bond.
I belong to the East. We have a similar festival which is known as Bhai Phota or Bhai Duj as it is called in the North. So, having not to celebrate Rakhi, I spent the day binging on Netflix but that’s another post. Traveling on Rakhi is simply no-no as the traffic congestion is so high it’s not sure whether one will ever reach one’s destination. I had a terrible time reaching home yesterday evening from office.
That aside, this time, I have been besotted by the moon and wanted to take a picture in all its glory on a full moon night. Somehow in the evening, the sky was cloudy and I could get none. My brother-in-law, along with my sister, had gone to his sister’s for Rakhi all the way to Noida. I asked them to get me a shot while coming back home. But again it was a dusty moon.
They were on road….travelling….so
From my balcony the sky was like this …
Just now I could only take these…
The dust in the air prevented a good shot. But it’s interesting to note how the dust laden moon was captured in the lens nearer home
