Why is Rakshabandhan celebrated, its importance and stories related to it?

Why is Rakshabandhan celebrated, its importance and stories related to it? – Everyone would know about the festival of Raksha Bandhan or Rakhi, this festival is celebrated every year with great pomp and gaiety. Many days before the arrival of this festival, the markets are decorated with colorful rakhis, sweets and dishes start being prepared in homes and people also buy new clothes. Everyone waits for this festival of Hindus, on this day sister ties Rakhi to her brother and both vow to protect each other throughout their life. This festival is being celebrated since many centuries, there are many mythological stories related to it. In this article, we will learn about the importance of this festival and the various mythological stories related to it.

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Importance of Rakshabandhan festival

Rakshabandhan is a Hindu festival celebrated on the full moon day of the month of Shravan. Every year everyone waits for this festival with great enthusiasm. This festival is the festival of brother-sister, on this day sister ties Raksha Sutra to her brother and does Tilak. And the brother promises to protect his sister for the rest of her life. This festival is the only festival which not only symbolizes the love of brothers and sisters, but also strengthens various relations of the society. This festival has been going on for many centuries, which also has many mythological stories about which we will know further.

Mythological stories related to Rakshabandhan festival

There are many mythological stories and incidents which are based on the festival of Raksha Bandhan. In this article, we will talk about these different stories and contexts.

Story of Draupadi and Lord Krishna,

According to the Mahabharata story, Shishupala, who was the son of Lord Krishna’s aunt, was pardoned for 100 crimes. But on the 101st crime committed by him, Shri Krishna punished him with his Sudarshan. Due to this incident Lord Shri Krishna’s finger was cut due to which blood was oozing continuously. To stop this bleeding, Draupadi tore a piece from her sari and tied it to Shri Krishna’s finger. Seeing Draupadi’s affection, Shri Krishna promised to protect her, this is the reason why Lord Shri Krishna protected Draupadi through an infinitely long saree at the time of her abduction. This story reflects the affection of Raksha Bandhan.

Story of Maharani Karnavati

The next story based on Raksha Bandhan festival is of Queen Karnavati and Emperor Humayun. Rani Karnavati was the queen of Chittor and was the widow of Maharaja Sanga. He had two sons, Rana Ratan Singh and Vikramaditya. After the death of his father, Rana Ratan Singh took charge of Chittor, but after his death, Vikramaditya sat on the throne. During the rule of Vikramaditya, Bahadur Shah started making plans to attack Chittor.

Queen Karnavati knew that Vikramaditya’s army was not strong enough to fight with Bahadur Shah’s army. Therefore, to save Chittor, the queen sent a message to Emperor Humayun along with Rakhi to protect her and Chittor. In which she wrote that she considered Humayun as her brother and expected him to protect her sister, Maharani Karnavati. Emperor Humayun became very emotional after seeing this defense formula and letter and he protected both Chittor and the queen from Bahadur Shah. Emperor Humayun honored the Rakshabandhan sent by the queen by becoming the religious brother of the queen.

Mata Lakshmi and the King – Story of Bali

The next story is of Mata Lakshmi and King Bali. According to mythology, once King Bali of the Asuras was performing a yagya, in such a way Lord Vishnu reached King Bali in the form of Vamana. King Bali asked Vamana to take alms, in which Lord Vishnu in the form of Vamana asked him for three steps of land. On this request of Vamana, King Bali promised to give him three feet of land. After getting the promise, Lord Vishnu in the form of Vamana started measuring three steps of land. As soon as Vaman took the first step, he measured the entire earth, in the second step he measured the entire universe, as soon as it came to measure the third step, Vaman asked King Bali where to place the third step, on this question King Bali laid his head at his feet.

Lord Vishnu was pleased to see this and asked him to ask for a boon, in which King Bali asked Lord Vishnu in the form of Vamana to stay with him. Lord Vishnu had to give this boon and because of which Lord Vishnu could not return to heaven. Mother Lakshmi got upset seeing this. To solve this, Mata Lakshmi tied a rakhi to Raja Bali, after tying the rakhi, Raja Bali asked him to ask for a gift, in which Mata Lakshmi asked Lord Vishnu.

This festival, symbolizing the unbreakable love of brother and sister, Rakshabandhan is also celebrated in Nepal, where this festival is also known as Janeu Purnima. Apart from this, this festival is also known as Mahaguru Purnima in West Bengal. This year, this festival of Raksha Bandhan will be celebrated on 30 August.