GK Questions on Raksha Bandhan

Raksha Bandhan

Raksha Bandhan, also Rakshabandhan, is a traditional Hindu ceremony celebrated in India and some other parts of South Asia, and among people around the world influenced by Hindu culture. On this day, sisters of all ages tie a talisman, or amulet, called the rakhi, around the wrists of their brothers, symbolically protecting them, receiving a gift in return, and traditionally investing the brothers with a share of the responsibility of their potential care.

Raksha Bandhan is observed on the last day of the Hindu lunar calendar month of Shraavana, which typically falls in August. The expression "Raksha Bandhan," Sanskrit, literally, "the bond of protection, obligation, or care," is now principally applied to this ritual. Until the mid-20th-century, the expression was more commonly applied to a similar ritual, also held on the same day, with precedence in ancient Hindu texts, in which a domestic priest ties amulets, charms, or threads on the wrists of his patrons, or changes their sacred thread, and receives gifts of money; in some places, this is still the case. In contrast, the sister-brother festival, with origins in folk culture, had names which varied with location, with some rendered as Saluno, Silono, and Rakri. A ritual associated with Saluno included the sisters placing shoots of barley behind the ears of their brothers.

Of special significance to married women, Raksha Bandhan is rooted in the practice of territorial or village exogamy, in which a bride marries out of her natal village or town, and her parents, by custom, do not visit her in her married home. In rural north India, where village exogamy is strongly prevalent, large numbers of married Hindu women travel back to their parents' homes every year for the ceremony. Their brothers, who typically live with the parents or nearby, sometimes travel to their sisters' married home to escort them back. Many younger married women arrive a few weeks earlier at their natal homes and stay until the ceremony. The brothers serve as lifelong intermediaries between their sisters' married and parental homes, as well as potential stewards of their security.

In urban India, where families are increasingly nuclear, the festival has become more symbolic, but continues to be highly popular. The rituals associated with this festival have spread beyond their traditional regions and have been transformed through technology and migration, the movies, social interaction, and promotion by politicized Hinduism, as well as by the nation state.

Among women and men who are not blood relatives, there is also a transformed tradition of voluntary kin relations, achieved through the tying of rakhi amulets, which have cut across caste and class lines, and Hindu and Muslim divisions. In some communities or contexts, other figures, such as a matriarch, or a person in authority, can be included in the ceremony in ritual acknowledgement of their benefaction.

Questions and Answers on Raksha Bandhan

Question 1: Who ties the rakhi on this day ?

Answer: Sister

Question 2: The festival falls on

Answer: Full moon day

The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (more exactly, when the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180°). This means that the lunar hemisphere facing Earth – the near side – is completely sunlit and appears as a circular disk. The full moon occurs roughly once a month.

The time interval between a full (or new) moon and the next repetition of the same phase, a synodic month, averages about 29.53 days. Therefore, in those lunar calendars in which each month begins on the day of the new moon, the full moon falls on either the 14th or 15th day of the lunar month. Because a calendar month consists of a whole number of days, a month in a lunar calendar may be either 29 or 30 days long.

Question 3: In Nepal, Raksha Bandhan is known as 

Answer: Janai Purnima

The Janai Purnima also known as Rakshyabandhan festival takes place on the full moon day of Shrawan i.e. Shrawan Purnima every year. In the year of 2071, it was on 25th Shrawan and in 2072 its on 12th of Bhadra. It is celebrated by Hindus and other Hindu related religions like Buddhist, Jain, belonging to aumkaar (ॐ कार) family. The Buddhist bath in sacred streams and visit their temples and the Brahman priests offer an ornamental thread to the wrists of their followers and in return receive gifts. Many pilgrims visit Gosainkunda and bath at the sacred lake. Mainly the people of Brahmin and chettri community change the sacred around their neck. This festival has different names. Newars in Nepal celebrate it as Kwati Punhi Indian celebrate it as rakhi (raksha) bandhan.

Question 4: All the domesticated Cows and Bullocks are decorated and worshipped on this day in Orissa. It is known as 

Answer: Gamha Purnima

Gamha Purnima is celebrated in Odisha. On this date, all the domesticated Cows and Bullocks are decorated and worshipped. Various kinds of country-made cakes called Pitha and sweets mitha are made and distributed within families, relatives and friends. In Oriya Jagannath culture, the lord Krishna & Radha enjoy the rainy season of Shravana starting from Shukla Pakhya Ekadashi (usually 4 days before Purnima) and ending on Rakhi Purnima with a festival called "Jhulan Yatra". Idols of Radha-Krishna are beautifully decorated on a swing called Jhulan, hence the name "Jhulan Yatra".

Question 5: Raksha Bandhan is a fastival of relationship between

Answer: Brother - Sister

On this day, sisters of all ages tie a talisman, or amulet, called the rakhi, around the wrists of their brothers, symbolically protecting them, receiving a gift in return, and traditionally investing the brothers with a share of the responsibility of their potential care.

Question 6: In this festival the rakhi is tied to 

Answer: Hand

Question 7: In western India, this day is celebrated as 

Answer: Narali Purnima

On the full moon day of Sravan is celebrated the Narli Purnima to appease the fury of the Sea-god Narli Purnima. It also marks the end of monsoon, and is primarily observed by sailors, fishermen and others living in the coastal areas of South India. They offer coconut to the sea on this occasion. If the sea happens to be far away, people go to some nearby tank, pool, river or some other source of water and offer coconut.A coconut has three eyes. It is said to represent Lord Shiva, the three eyed God. Coconut is considered to be an auspicious offering to Gods.

Question 8: Who was the first hindu queen to tie a rakhi to muslim king ?

Answer: Queen Karnavati

Rani Karnavati also known as Rani Karmavati (died 8 March 1535), was a princess and temporary ruler from Bundi, India. She was married to Rana Sanga of Chittorgarh, the capital of Mewar Kingdom. She was the mother of the next two Ranas, Rana Vikramaditya and Rana Uday Singh, and grandmother of the legendary Maharana Pratap. 

After Babur had captured the throne of Delhi in 1526 AD, Rana Sangram Singh or Rana Sanga of Mewar lead a confederation of Rajput Kings against Babur to capture the throne of Delhi. But in The Battle of Khanua in 1527, the combined Rajput forces were defeated, and Rana Sanga died shortly afterward from his wounds. Rani Karnavati took up the regency in the name of her elder son Vikramaditya, a weak ruler. In the meantime, Mewar was attacked for the second time by Bahadur Shah of Gujarat, at whose hands Vikramaditya had earlier received a defeat. It was a matter of great concern for Rani.

The antagonized nobles were not ready to fight for Vikramaditya and the imminent battle was sure to be another blot in the history of Sisodias. Rani Karnavati wrote to the nobles to come forward for the sake of the honour of the Sisodias, and was able to persuade the nobles to fight for Mewar, if not for Vikramaditya. Their sole condition was that Vikramaditya and Uday Singh should go to Bundi during the war for their personal safety. Rani also sent a Rakhi to Mughal Emperor Humayun, calling him a brother and asking for help. Thus her name became irrevocably linked to the festival of Raksha Bandhan.

Question 9: Which special food is eaten by Nepalese on this day ?

Answer: Kwati

Kwati is a mixed soup of nine types of sprouted beans. It is a traditional Nepalese dish consumed on the festival of Janāi Purnimā, the full moon day of Shravan Poornima. Kwāti is eaten as a delicacy and for its health benefits and ritual significance. Kwati is known to be a healthy food. They say that it cures cold, cough and is one of the best foods for women in their maternity leave. Since, it contains varieties of beans, this recipe is loaded with proteins and thus helps weak/sick people to regain their energy.

Question 10: The festival falls in the month of 

Answer: Shravan

Shravan is the fifth month of the Hindu calendar. In India's national civil calendar, Shravan is the fifth month of the Hindu year, beginning in late July from the first day of the full moon and ending in the third week of August, the day of the next full moon. In the Tamil calendar, it is known as Āvani and is the fifth month of the solar year. In lunar religious calendars, Shravan begins on the new moon and is the fourth month of the year. Srabon (also spelt Sravan) is the fourth month of the Bengali calendar. This is also the 2nd month of Varsha (rainy) season.

The month of Shravana is very important for the entire sub-continent of India as it is connected to the arrival of the South-West monsoons. For many Hindus, the month of Shraavana is a month of fasting. Many Hindus will fast every Monday to the Lord Shiva and/or every Tuesday to the Goddess Parvati. Fasting on Tuesdays of this month is known locally as "Mangala Gauri Vrat".