Threads that bind: Raksha Bandhan celebrated across Pakistan

The bond between siblings was celebrated with jubilance across Pakistan, like in other parts of the world, on Sunday as the festival, Raksha Bandhan, began.

Also called Rakhi, Raksha Bandhan is a Hindu festival in which sisters tie a bracelet made of interwoven threads around their brothers’ wrists on the full moon of the month of Sravana in the lunar calendar. In return, the brothers give an unspoken promise to their sisters to always protect them.

In Jacobabad, women celebrating the festival said prayers for their brothers’ long life and tied a rakhi around their wrists.

As soon as the date for the festival approaches, shops are flooded with rachis of various colours.

Historically, the festival has not been limited to Hindus only. It is believed that Rabindranath Tagore, a writer and poet of his times, promoted the concept of Rakhi among Hindus and Muslims in the subcontinent during the British Raj. He is said to have done so in order to unite the Hindus and Muslims against the British colonial rulers.