RakshaBandhan

Relationships are the essence of celebration. This holds true for any Indian festival. Each festival brings the families and society together. That mere togetherness is celebration. The celebration of one such relationship is Raksha Bandhan; the celebration of brother sister relationship. The sibling relationship is nowhere so celebrated as in India. The brother sister relationship is no where so worshiped as here. It is this affection and love that is celebrated on the Raksha Bandhan.

Raksha Bandhan is a festival celebrating the bond of affection between brothers and sisters. The day when the siblings pray for each others' well being and wish for each others' happiness and goodwill. As the name 'Raksha Bandhan' suggests, 'a bond of protection', Raksha Bandhan is a pledge from brothers to protect the sister from all harms and troubles and a prayer from the sister to protect the brother from all evil. The festival falls on the Shravan Purnima (full moon day of shravan month) which comes generally in the month of August. The sisters tie the silk thread called rakhi on their brother's wrist and pray for their well being and brothers promise to take care of their sisters. This festival which is unique to India creates a feeling of belongingness and oneness amongst the family and society.

Guruji's Message
Today is the day of commitment and upholding that. Commitment of coming together, not against any enemy but for love and sharing joy. There are various strengths which every person has, be it bodily, mental, emotional or spiritual and today is the day to become aware of our strength and using that to protect others.
Bondage doesn't allow us to grow, it stiffles us and to come out of such bondage we have to take a different kind of bondage(bandhan), one which is full of love and knowledge and thus the significance of rakshabandhan.
Also, women should not feel that they are not strong, even though they may not be physically as strong as men but definitely they have higher mental strength, India has always been a place which has treated women with reverance and respect, we always say "Radhe-Shyam, Siya-Ram, matradevobhav (मातृ देवो भव)", so today is the day to realise the strength within us and use that to spread love and knowledge to everyone and not just keep it limited to ourselves.

Origins
The origin of Rakshabandhan from Vedas specifically the Bhavishaya Purana (137/20), which explains that once Lord Vishnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, after King Bali’s surrendered unto Him, promised the king that He would personally guard his kingdom in the Sutala planet, which is situated in the lower planetary systems. Later Laxmidevi, while looking for Lord Vishnu, arrived in Sutala planet on Shravan Purnima. She accepted King Bali as her brother by tying a ‘raksha’ on him. In return, Bali asked her to wish for a boon. She requested Lord Vishnu’s return. However, the Lord had pledged to eternally protect King Bali. To resolve his dilemma, Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva agreed to guard King Bali for four months each, while Lord Vishnu would guard him for the auspicious four months known as Chaturmasaya. The festival of Rakshabandhan commenced when Laxmidevi tied the ‘raksha’ on King Bali.

The Bhavishaya Purana also cites a story about the great battle between devas (demigods) and danavas (demons). In the battle the devas, headed by King Indra, was defeated. Indra, humbled and crest-fallen, sought the advice of Brihaspati, the Guru of the demigods. The sage told him to bide his time, prepare himself and then march against his adversary. He also indicated that the auspicious moment for sallying forth was the Shravan Purnima. As the devas prepared to fight again, Sachidevi, King Indra’s wife took a thread, charged it with sacred verses or mantras for protection and tied it on Indra’s hand. Through the strength of this thread Indra conquered his enemies re-established his sovereignty. Since then till today this festival is celebrated.