Q: What is Raksha Bandhan?
Raksha Bandhan is known as a well-known Hindu holiday that celebrates the eternal love beween a brother and a sister. This special holiday makes the bond stronger between siblings that is the bond of love. Raksha is the definition of protection, and Bandan is a verb that makes to tie. When celebrating, the sister ties a Rakhi around the brother's wrist which usually the colors in red, yellow, or gold, the brother gives a gift to the sister. This is the country celebrated because they believe that whenever the wrist is tied, it shows a symbolism that the brother will protect the sister.
Q: What do you eat?
There are no specific food that has to be eaten during this holiday, but there are many popular ones such as: Halwa, Paneer Tikka Masala, coconut ladoo, and many more. The Paneer dish has spiced gravy with marinated cheese, and is more considered to be a curry dish. Coconut ladoo is a sweet dessert that has milk, flour, sugar, and other ingredients. Usually, when me and my family celebrate, we just eat small sweets that I feed to my brother and cousins after tying the Rakhi, and then we just whatever my mom makes for us. In India, the holiday is definitely more bigger, but we just remember the special love and then just continue on with our lives.
Q: What do you wear?
When I first celebrated this holiday with my family and my brother, I wore a fabric that is used to cover my head and wore simple Indian clothing. However, according to research, the sisters usually wear an ankle-length skirt or an umbrella-style dress. From what I know, any country will make their culture different from others: the females in India wear mini lehengas, salwarr suits, and many more. I think that no matter how less or more of an important holiday in India, the people will always go all out.
Q: What do you give?
When I celebrated Raksha Bandhan, the last time was with my family: my father, brother, and sometimes grandpa, uncle, and my cousins whenever they came to America. I would tie the "sacred thread or amulet around her brothers wrist to symbolically protect from evil." As mentioned before, they would just give money to me. However, it has also been known that some people give clothes to the sister, but it does depend on if the sister even likes the clothing. You can even give just any kind of gift like its their birthday: headphones, a book, a watch, candy, etc. It all comes down depending on your sibling's interest.
Q: When and where is this celebration celebrated?
Raksha Bandan is celebrated mostly in India orginated by the Hindus. It is a festival celebrated in South Asia and in many other parts of the world. This year, we celebrate the holiday on August 8, 2021. What is intresting is that we have to check the date every year because for some reason it changes every year, but that is not the main point. I love this holiday not only because of the free money, but the representation of remembering I should always love my brother and my family.