Bhubaneswar: August 22: In our Indian culture and tradition, the four holy full moon dates (Dol Purnima, Gahma, Kumar Purnima and Rasa Purnima) are celebrated as major public festivals every year.
Gamha Purnami is a very important festival for the people of India, which was celebrated on the full moon day of Month Shravan. This festival is also linked to agriculture like Raja Festival/Raja Sankranti and Akshaya Tritiya. People worship the cattle with devotion on this day as cattle use to be a major part of agriculture. Since ages, cattle are used for various agricultural practices and agriculture is our main source of livelihood. Also, we get milk from cows and from milk we produce various biproducts for our food & nutrition. For all these things, Cattle has lot of importance for mankind.
As we worship Cattle/Cows on this day, this is call Gamha Purnami. Gamha means Cow. Cattle are decorated beautifully and worshipped. Whole year, we get services from cattle, and this is day, we honour, respect them worshipping with Sindoor, Chandan and Flowers.
On this day Gamha Dian is conducted. Gamha Dian is a game where in gifts are tied to a rope and hung at some height. People run and jump on a makeshift ramp and try to get the gifts. It is fun and lot of people would participate in this.
Also, as celebrated by other parts of India, people of Odisha also celebrate it as Rakshi Purnima. The tradition of tying a sacred guard on the hand of brother by the sister is an age-old tradition, is also being practiced in Odisha on the day Gamha Purnima or Rakhi Purnima.
It is a strong sign of happiness and well-being. In fact, Raksha Bandhan is a symbol of the pure love, respect and love between brother and sister. The brother promises to protect his sister for the rest part of life. Brothers and sisters celebrate this special occasion with gifts.
This concept is very ancient, although it is not properly mentioned in the Puranas when it was started. In some Puranas, it is mentioned that the practice of tying a guard on right hand was practiced by the Gods in heaven.
Many tales are there relating to Raksha Bandhan.
According to the records from the epic Mahabharata, Lord Krishna, once in the company of the Pandavas, was flying kites, where he got his finger cut by the string of kite and suffered from bleeding. Draupadi, to stop the bleeding, immediately tore a piece of her saree and tied it around Krishna’s finger. Lord Krishna was moved by this gesture of affection and promised a lifetime of protection to Draupadi. It is believed that when the Kauravas were attempting to disgrace Draupadi by stripping her out in the open, Draupadi prayed to Lord Krishna to protect her. When Dushashan was trying unwrapping her, Krishna protected her giving more & more shares. Finally, Dushasana backed off without being able to remove her clothing.
Another tale related to Raksha Bandhan is the bond of love between the brother and sister, Yama, the Lord of Death, and Yamuna, the river. According to folklore, Yamuna once tied a thread on the wrist of lord Yama, to represent the unceasing affection that they shared as siblings. Lord Yama was moved by this gesture and assured her protection and immortality, additionally guaranteed that he would favor each sibling who ensured his sister’s safety with a long life.
A tale from history glorifies Raksha Bandhan also. As told, after the death of Mewar’s Rana Sangram Singh, the Mughal emperor of Delhi expressed his desire to attack the Chittor. But the brave and heroic queen of Chittor’s fort, Karnavati, realized this and sent a holy guard to the Mughal emperor Humayun at that time to save Chittor’s fort. Muslim Ruler Humayun refrained from attacking the fortress of Chittor giving honour to Rakshi or the sacred guard.
All these traditions and tales glorify the festival of ‘Raksha Bandhan’ and we the Indians celebrate this with devotion and integrity.
