Ever Wondered When One Can Remove The Rakhi

य◌ेन बद◌्ध◌ो बल◌ी र◌ाज◌ा द◌ानव◌ने ◌्द◌र् ◌ो मह◌ाबल:।

त◌ेन त◌व् ◌ामन◌बुध◌न् ◌ामि◌ रक◌्ष◌ेम◌ाचल म◌ाचल।।

Meaning - “I tied you the holy thread, i.e. Rakhi which is also tied to the most powerful, the king of courage, the king of demons, Bali. O Raksha Sutra please be in our favour, throughout the year, helping us to solve our problems."

Throughout the year, Indians become excited and full of enthusiasm, while gearing up for Rakhi shopping.

Comes in the month of Shravana on a Purnima day, during the Aparahan or Pradoshon timings, Rakhi is advised not to be celebrated during the month of Bhadra. Rakhi or Raksha Bandhan is one such auspicious festival which marks siblings bond, specifically, the brother-sister bond. While a sister ties the rakhi on the wrist of her brother, the brother promises to take care of her and save her from every trouble.

It is an important Vedic ritual to eliminate evil forces and to keep diseases at bay from the brother’s lives.

Having such a crucial significance, Rakhi is even celebrated when a brother-sister duo is separated by distance due to some prior commitments. Under such a situation, sisters tend to look for a perfect designer Rakhi along with some cool gift and send it across to him with some online rakhi delivery option. The sister then treats her brother as well as bhabhi over some rakhi signature box, whereas the brother blesses her with some amount of Shagun or a special rakhi gift. Regardless of which age group, one belongs to, Rakhi as a festival is all about spending some quality family time. Every Indian household rejoices when its that time of the year again - the happy time, the Rakhi time! This festival shows our heritage in the truest sense, reminding us every time where we came from.

The day starts by waking up early in the morning, taking a bath, and preparing a meal to pamper the brother and sister duo of the Indian household. A proper Rakhi thali is decorated including all the essentials like grains of uncooked rice, beautiful rakhi, diya, kumkum and delicious sweets. Then Rakhi pujan is done to seek the blessings of the Almighty and to take permission from the Lord to start the Rakhi proceedings as per the shubh lagan. On this auspicious occasion, people worship either Lord Ganesha or Lord Krishna. One of the pre-requisites of the Rakhi festival is that it demands the sister to fast until the Rakhi rituals are completed. It is advised for the well-being of their brothers. As part of the Pujan, the sister does an aarti, applies tikka with kumkum on the brother’s forehead, ties the Rakhi, and prays for his well-being over sweets. In return, brothers pamper their sisters with beautiful gifts.

Once the Rakhi has been tied as per the age-old traditions, people might be wondering when to remove the Rakhi from the wrist. To answer this question, let us tell you that, no such specific instructions as been mentioned as part of the pre-requisites of Rakhi. But as per various cultures, the untying of the rakhi takes place during a different time. For instance, as per the Maharashtrian culture, one can remove Rakhi on the 15th day from the day of Raksha Bandhan. It is so because, on the 15th day, a festival called Pola is celebrated when farmers are said to worship God Marbot Dev & also pet animals like Bulls.

Usually, celebrated in August or September, bulls are given a bath and then are decorated with ornaments and colourful shawls. As a large part of Indian society is engaged in the agricultural sector, people are owed to celebrate and appreciate the bullocks used in farming. So, to end Rakhi on a good note, one festival succeeds another one.

Few other people are said to believe that Rakhi can be worn as long as a brother wants. It symbolises the eternal love that a sister holds from her brother and vice-versa. So, the holy thread will always remind a brother of all the duties that he holds for his dearest sister. A few other people like to wear it till the time the Rakhi gets worn off or till the next Rakhi when the sister replaces it with a new one. As per Hindu traditions, eight days after Raksha Bandhan we celebrate Krishna Janmashtami, which is believed to be a perfect occasion for untying the Rakhi; we hope that you have gotten the answer to the question of when to remove Rakhi from the wrist. Krishna Janmashtami is another major festival of all Hindu people which is celebrated on Amavasya to mark Lord Krishna’s birth anniversary.

You must have been wondering why untying the Rakhi isn’t considered a bad omen on Krishna Janmashtami, right? Well, the story of Lord Krishna and Draupadi is one of the stories that originated the festival of Raksha Bandhan. And this story will also answer your question of who tied Rakhi to lord Krishna. He once injured her little finger, and Draupadi, without thinking twice, wrapped a cloth piece onto his hand, and it was the moment Lord Krishna vowed to protect her sister-like friend in all walks of life.

So, be it for no matter how long, the purpose is that one always holds an unbreakable bond with their loving brothers and sisters. One might have endless remote fights and nok-jhoks, but Rakhi helps to remove all the sourness from a brother-sister relationship and sweetens it forever.