In India, people celebrate many traditional festivals and most of them are accompanied by religious rites and other traditions. The festivals are socio-religious in content but even when worship is performed according to the specific religious norms, participation in most of the festivals is not restricted to a particular community. Generally members of all the communities participate in the festivities, and the festivals are symbolic of the unity and diversity of Indian cultures.
Raksha Bandhan is one such festival of the country which has transgressed religious and cultural barriers. Although the festival is of Hindu origin, people from all communities whether they are Muslims, Sikhs, Jains or Christians participate in the festival with the same fervor and enthusiasm. The festival is a celebration of the unique relationship between brothers and sisters. On the day of the festival it is the custom for girls to tie a ritual thread around the wrists of their brothers. The thread is popularly known as rakhi and it symbolizes the binding of the siblings into a relationship for life. When a girl ties a rakhi on the wrists of any male it becomes his natural duty to protect her from all harm at all times. So the brothers or the males takes a vow of safeguarding their sisters and also present them with gifts in return for the rakhis.
The rakhi tradition is inherent in Indian culture and people consider it of great importance that they send rakhi and gifts for their siblings even at faraway places. These days in the modern age of the internet people buy their Raksha Bandhan gifts online and have them delivered to a destination of their choice. Not only have some of the old traditions changed but the rakhi thread itself which was originally a home-woven simple thread, are now available in fancy designs. And the fancy rakhi threads are not sold only in traditional shops and marketplaces but people also buy fancy rakhi online from internet gift stores.
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