Today is a special festival here. It’s the end of the month, which means it’s Raksha Bandhan! On this Hindu religious holiday, girls give people who are literally or figuratively their brothers bracelets (rakhi), which will then ensure protection for the girls. The brothers also give gifts or money to their sister. It also is used as a way to strengthen the bond between brother and sister even after a sister becomes married and part of the family of her husband. In preparation for this festival, there have been many stands selling bracelets on the street.
The story behind the festival: at one time a Raj (King) was about to go into battle, a princess (presumably his sister) tied a bracelet on his wrist in order to show him that she was remembering while he was in battle.
This holiday also is celebrated with worship, at the auspicious time of noon or 1ish. What happens is the family gathers together, and the sisters perform pujas for the brothers and tie the bracelets on them (and feed them). After that, the brothers give their sister(s) gifts. We visited Nilam ma’am’s house to watch the ceremony and meet her family. It was really nice, although coming back we were altogether stuffed from eating so much food (it appears as though hospitality everywhere involves feeding you until you are stuffed).
We also got the grand tour of their house (which is beautiful) and I took some pictures from the roof. You can see the Ganga (but not from the picture that you can see).
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