A Glorious String Illustrating One Divine Linkage

1 June 2016


Fraternal relations, as thrive in the human society, are solely dedicated in strengthening the texture of social fabric in this world and boosting up the spirit of attachment in the minds of people for one another. Amidst all congenial relationships present in this world, the relationship shared by a brother-sister duo is a most noble and vibrant one. An individual’s sister or brother is that exclusive one of life who shares with equal earnestness both the agony and the success of that individual. A fair sex or a macho sex sibling is that close individual of a person’s life with whom all those discussions of life and living can be made which cannot shared with either friends or parents. A sibling, older or minor, is that everlasting friend of life, who remains there for us, irrespective of our tiffs and arguments with him/her, as an essential juke box for letting us feel, at every moment of union with him/her, the candied emotion of fraternal amity and the singular feeling of kinship cohesion, irrespective to the grade of maturity and mellowness of age attained by us. A person’s sister or brother is that distinctive individual who remains, during the period of the demise of the person’s parents, as the sole witness of the treasured days of the person’s infancy and youth and as the sole and most worthwhile heeder of the person’s welfare after parents. Presence of siblings ensures human-beings with the intimate pleasure of having a family member with whom they can connect most blissfully and wholesomely when fathers and mothers leave this world. Even the secluded souls do not remain fully solitary if they are blessed by God with a sister or a brother---as then they are inherently affixed to an individual sharing the same lineage of theirs with the celibate linkage of kinship and possess a family member to fall back on at times when their solitude begin to engulf them. Such unique features of the bond establish the brother-sister relation as the distinctly most revered earthly connect. The Hindu fraternity of the world, based in India and settled in other parts of the globe as well, especially extols the graceful nexus between a brother and a sister through discrete clerical praxes on a certain day of a year. Marking the observance as the “Raksha Bandhan” (“Raksha” meaning To Preserve and “Bandhan” meaning Connect) fete, Hindus elect a day with an accompanying full moon night on the mid of the August month to realize this chaste commemoration of the sis-bro linkage with sincere devotion and ardent geniality. On the heyday of the observance, termed by the Hindus as the day of “Rakhi Purnima” (the full moon spell), the sister ties on the right wrist of her brother a psychedelic cord of silk designated by Hinduism as the “Rakhi”---the blessed bracelet. The religious order of Hindus, that is Hinduism, vows that by the weaves of this holy cord a sister is bound for her lifetime to wish to God for the flourish and felicity of her brother and the brother is committed for his entire life in protecting his sister from any and every molesting element and ensure her gaiety with his best endeavors. This unique celebration of the gifted fraternal connection between the two opposite genders of mankind becomes special further by the fact that on “Rakhi Purnima” ovation of not only the bond between a blood brother-sister pair happens, but also exaltation of a cultivated fraternal tie between a unconnected duo of man and woman (cohered to each other by the sentiment of kinship) takes place. Based cardinally on the soul-filling narratives of Hindu mythology and chronicles of Indian history the clerical “Raksha Bandhan” observance has not, however, receded in vigor among the contemporary global Hindu brothers and sisters—on the contrary, has become, with suiting vibes of modernity, all the more favorite among the modern “Bhai”s (Brothers) and “Behenas” (Sisters) as a fiesta to unite, enjoy and share the warmth of the relation tying them to one another.

The conviviality of “Raksha Bandhan” is a holy observation aging 6000 years and dawning first during the prolific Indus Valley Civilization. Sisters of the bygone days availed with pleasure, modest strings of silk, of 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) and with skirted ends of cotton as the chaste “Rakhi” to garnish the wrists of their brothers. But with the ushering in of the 20th and the 21st century and the consequent fervors of fashion and designing, minds of the Behens began to seek for artistic and textured Rakhis to grace their brothers. During present times, Rakhis devised from skins of fine metals like brass, silver, gold and diamond and shining fineries like semi-precious stones such as ruby, topaz, emerald, velvet tissue, “zari” paper, multi-colored beads, dainty pieces of sandal or rosewood have become the most choice bracelets for sisters to exalt their bond with their brothers on the heyday of “Rakhi Purnima”. Adding to the glory, these new-age “Rakhi” bracelets also flaunt enthralling “kundan” or “meenakari” work (both symbols of native Indian handicraft) floral or figurine patterns as the centerpiece design and thus become a prized wrist wear to be preserved by every single receiving “Bhai”.

Within these heart-filling novel Rakhis, a much pleasurable kind is the Sandalwood Rakhis. Sandalwood or “Chandan” (as is known in the Hindi language) is taken by Hindus as a very holy element used as a prime item while offering prayers to God and realizing religious ceremonies. As history evinces, “Chandan Rakhis were the sole Rakhis in use in the royal families. On present days, the Rakhis innovatively crafted from sandalwood feature the singular trait of being traditionally contemporary. Principally beads of sandalwood and other riveting design forms charted from sandalwood are used by craftsmen to shape the Sandalwood Rakhis. Sometimes, in order to daze the buyers all the more, patterns like “Om” “Swastik”, figures of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, flowers and peacocks are devised by artists to embellish the center of the “Chandan Rakhis. Such craftsmanship has made the “Chandan Rakhi”s from a string to a wrist wear and Sandalwood “Rakhi” bracelets are the most fitting and fashionable Rakhis of modern times. Being entirely crafted from the fine “Chandan” and carrying the attribute of being a celibate symbol, these Rakhis are like a very valuable bracelets for brothers endowed with them. The natural heavenly aroma of sandalwood magnifies the splendor of the Sandalwood Rakhis to the height.

Not easily available in markets and shops, Sandalwood Rakhis are, however, available in a plentitude on the cyber shopping porches. Sisters, willing to greet their brothers with a “Rakhi” which is both classic and chic, can choose from a plethora of “Chandan Rakhi”s like Beautiful Auspicious Sandalwood "Rakhi", Sandalwood "Rakhi" with Jewels, Simply Sandalwood and Beads "Rakhi", Marquise Shape Sandalwood "Rakhi" with Golden Beads, Fancy Designer Sandalwood Rakhi with Diamonds, Traditional Thematic Mauli Designer Sandalwood "Rakhi", Majestic Sandalwood "Rakhi" for Brother with Zari and Multi-color Beads, Sandalwood Thread “Rakhi”, Royal Sandalwood Swastik Base "Rakhi" with Orange Beads, Real Essence of Green Cardamom and Sandalwood "Rakhi" and much more of such elegant bracelets offered by the e-portals.

Regal, religious and voguish, Sandalwood Rakhis, with their proprietary preciousness and inherent divine incense, enhance the fraternal cosset and cohesion intrinsic within a bro-sis nexus and strengthen, with their spiritual trait, the tissues of love between a “Bhai” and “Behen”.

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