A Treasured Bond Of Fraternal Friendship

Of all the existed and existing social relationships that has got crafted at pace with the civilization of human race, the brother-sister relationship is one of the most chaste and exclusive one. After parents, an elderly or younger sibling is the true family that one possess. One’s brother or sister is that intimate one in one’s life with whom the individual can share, with mental ease and satisfaction, the deepest agonies, cherished dreams and nurtured hopes. Having a brother or a sister in life is like gaining that special benediction of God, by which an individual is assured of not being lonely in life, even if that person is not bonded by other social nexuses. An elder brother is that guide of life, who advises us and leads us to the right path of livelihood with a plethora of heed similar to that of father and an elder sister is that nurturer of entity, who cares for our comfort and happiness with an opulence of caress agnate to that of mother. From another spectrum, a younger brother or sister is that individual in our lives, to whom we can express our prized fatherly or motherly feelings, with reciprocal love and respect, if life does not give us any other chance to exercise our these sentiments. Truly, a wholesome bond with one’s brother or sister completes the sphere of one’s life and saturates the person’s heart with the pleasure of having family. Just like parents are believed to be the guardian angels of our lives, a senior or junior sibling too is accepted as the God-sent angelic friend of us, enriching, with love and concern our existences. At par with their religious order, that is, Hinduism, the Hindus of India and abroad as well, favors to esteem this gifted nexus between a brother and a sister through a candied clerical ceremony known to the world as the “Raksha Bandhan” (“Raksha” means To Shield and “Bandhan” means Connection) ceremony. This necessarily chaste observance is accomplished on a day with a full moon night at the mid of the month of August—designated by the Hindus as the day of “Rakhi Purnima”. This ceremony necessitates a biological or cousin sister to fasten on the right wrist of her biological or cousin brother a colorful and celestial fabric string titled by Hindus as the “Rakhi”. This sanctified “Rakhi” cord carries with it certain virtuous vows which the pair of brother-sister, observing the fete, needs to avow to. The spiritual string of “Rakhi” requires the sister to convey to God her fulsome desire for the splendor and felicity of her brother and urges the brother to pledge for preserving his sister with his best efforts during both happy and pensive times. The uniqueness of this fete is hemmed in the fact that the divine vivacity of this fete includes not only biological brothers and sisters and brothers or sisters of the same family, but also facilitates a man and a woman who are not connected by ties of blood or family, but by the felt tie of kinship towards each other, to laud their this singularly holy bondage.

Founded largely on the anecdotes and narratives of Indian mythology and history, the “Raksha Bandhan” gala is a 6000 years old pious protocol, beginning during the flourishing Indus Valley Civilization. While during the classical times, the cord of “Rakhi” used to be a simple thread of silk with brushed over cotton ends, coming in colors yellow and orange (believed by Hindus as the colors of thread used by Goddess “Yamuna” and Goddess “Laxmi” to bedeck their respective brother’s wrists)---with the modernization of time, decorations like beads, dyed with golden and silver threads, satin ribbons, petite pieces of woods and sandalwoods, floral and figurine motifs and such other engaging elements gained popularity in crafting the sublime string.

Contemporary times have seen the evolvement of an exquisite genre of “Rakhi” cords---the Precious Rakhis. Substantially made of fine gems and metals like gold, silver, diamond, pearl, emerald, ruby, opal, topaz, moonstone, onyx etc these Rakhis serve not only as a clerical cord, but also as a bejeweled wrist wear, filling the mind of the giving sister with contented pleasure and that of the receiving brother with winsome delight. Frequently these Rakhis feature a brass, silver or gold chain in place of the cotton or silk thread and thereby flaunt a riveting artistic splendor. Precious Rakhis with gold and silver coins as center pieces have also started to rank top among the buying sisters’ list of selection. The jades are devised into marvelous molds to produce beguiling “Rakhi” patterns and the elite metals are primarily used to craft motif of Gods and Goddesses, Flowers and other varied innovative patterns as the center logo of the Precious Rakhis. A bountiful number of gift shops and the cyber shopping porches offer mind-dazing types of Precious Rakhis such as Fine Gold Plated Ganesha Coin "Rakhi" (Surrounded by a Knitted Pattern of Red Thread and Om on Green Leaves), Exclusive Heavy Gold Plated Bracelet Cum "Rakhi", Glorious Diamond and Fancy Beads Brother "Rakhi", Attractive Multi Diamond Pearl Brother "Rakhi", Marrow Stone, Moti Zari Brother "Rakhi", Taste of Tradition - Designer Gold Zari Work "Rakhi", Beautiful Sunflower Design Pearl "Rakhi", Jodhpuri Handmade Fancy Designer Jewel "Rakhi", Precious Stone "Rakhi", Hamsa Hand - Diamond and Gold "Rakhi" ("Hamsa" is an evil-blower symbol representing the palm), Vel - Diamond and Gold "Rakhi" ("Vel"=the Holy Lance) and collateral kinds of stunning Precious Rakhis.

A graceful diversification in the creation of the celibate “Rakhi” cord, the concept and usage of the Precious Rakhis by sisters to enhance the wrists of their brothers, have not, however subdued the intrinsic chastity of the “Raksha Bandhan” ceremony by its glitter and shimmer. Rather the shine and glow of these Rakhis have, with certitude magnified the inherent grandeur and nobleness treasured in the nexus shared by a brother-sister pair.