The festival of Rakshabandhan is the Indian holiday celebrating the relationship between a brother and sister. The word Raksha means “protect”, and Bandhan means “relationship”, translating to A Relationship of Protection. The history of Rakshabandhan goes back nearly 6000 years, and is present in many holy texts, like the Mahabharat. 

This year, Rakshabandhan 2022 falls on August 11th. Due to the differences in the Western Gregorian calendar and the Indian Hindu calendar, the festival does not always occur on the same day. For example, Rakshabandhan 2021 was on August 22nd! 

Rakshabandhan in India is a national festival, and is celebrated across the globe. Despite the festival being focused on the bond between brother and sister, the siblings do not have to be related. There is a famous example of Alexander the Great’s wife, Roxane, sending a rakhi to King Porus. The King accepted her kinship, and refused to go to war with Alexander. The rakhi can be tied between brothers, cousins and even friends. Funnily, many young Indian men detest being “brother-zoned” when women tie rakhis around their wrists.

The ceremony only needs a diya (candle), a Rakhi, and sweets. The sisters tie a holy string on their brother’s right wrist, signifying her wish of protection and prosperity. In turn, the brother gifts his sister mithai or sweets. Traditional Rakshabandhan gifts are kaju katli, peda or burfi mithai. 

A Rakhi is a holy thread tied around the right wrist. There are other holy strings that you may see, but the significance of the Rakhi is in the gem, beads or other object that is in the center of the thread. This object or the color of the rakhi can change, and can include a gem, a little Aum- even a Sai Baba!

You can stop by our store to browse our full inventory of rakhis, and get them individually, or buy multipacks if you have a lot of brothers. For the boys, we’ve got over a dozen Amul chocolates, fresh mithai and Haldiram sweets as well. Or, you can browse our rakhis and mithai online, and get them delivered.