Rakhi - (Festivals in India)

Bakri-Id - Festival of Sacrifice - Muslim
Buddha Jayanti - Buddha's Birthday - Buddhist/Hindu
Diwali - Festival of Light - Hindu
Dussehra or Dusshera - Lord Ram - Hindu
Guru Nanaks Birthday
Holi - Festival of Colour - Hindu
Kumbh Mela - Festival of the Pot -Hindu
Meelad-Id - The prophet Muhammed's birth and death - Muslim
Onam - South Indian celebration of good over evil - Hindu
Rakhi - Sibling closenes - Hindu/Many

Raksha Bandhan or Rakhi

Raksha Bandhan is the unique Indian festival meant to sweeten the ties of brother and sister. It usually falls in late August. The main ritual consists of tying the 'rakhi' knot on to a brother's wrist. 'Raksha Bandhan' literally means 'Bond of protection' and implies that while the sister prays to God for the well being and prosperity of her brother, the brother vows to protect her against all the evils of the world and help her in all the problems.

On this day, sisters bathe early and wear new clothes. They do not eat or drink anything until they perform the 'aarti' of their brothers wishing the best for him, adorn their heads with red vermillion 'tikka', tie rakhi on his wrist and sweeten their mouths with speciall prepared sweets and delicacies. Brothers on the other hand, give token gifts in kind or cash to their sisters.

Today, the practice has taken a more universal and humanitarian form when women and girls tie rakhis to the soldiers, the jailed convicts or other abandoned social sects to make them feel loved and wanted. In some regions, mainly the north and west, girls tie rakhi around the wrists of boys and men who have no sisters and treat them as their 'god-brothers'.