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August 13, 2003
Rakhi Festival
This is really cool. I have been reading on a couple of different blogs about the Rakhi festival in India that has something to do with brothers and sisters. For more details check out Anvita or Jivha. Then yesterday's paper had this picture and comment:
Body art ... Arpita Das shows her hands covered with henna designs on the occasion of the rakhi festival in Calcutta. During this popular Hindu festival, sisters also tie sacred thread onto their brother's wrist for his well being in return for his vowing to protect them. Photo: Reuters
Unfortunately the paper did not explain why this lady has tattooed hands and the explanations I have found were about sisters trying things around their brothers wrists. No mention of lady's hands. Now if I had not read those blogs I would have just accepted the paper's explanation and spent the rest of my life believing that the Rakhi festival had something to do with dying the hands of your ladies. Shame on the SMH for not checking the facts...
Posted by Ozguru at August 13, 2003 07:08 AM
Basically, henna is supposed to be auspicious and is normally applied on hands on the occassion of any Hindu festival that is celebratory in nature. This photograph is actually a picture from a henna-body art contest that took place in Calcutta yesterday, because it was Rakshabandhan.
Posted by: Anvita at August 13, 2003 07:08 AM
Thanks Anvita. Is "Rakhi" just a shortened form of "Rakshabandhan"? I think I was trying to protest about not showing the ties around the brother's hand which (if I understood the explanations correctly) was the key point to the festival - i.e. brother/sister not just decorated hands. Thanks for helping to continue my education.... :-)
Posted by: ozguru at August 13, 2003 07:08 AM
"Rakhi" is the thread that the sister ties on the brother's hand. "Raksha Bandhan" is the festical itself. But yes, RB is nowadays mostly referred to as Rakhi itself.
And yes you're right, the newspaper should have displayed the rakhi also, so non-Indians get the immediate context before wondering about henna-dyed hands :-)
P.S. I've got two rakhis on my left hand - a red one from my sis, and a pink one from my two cousins. I'm dreading going to Delhi next time round 'cos I just know they're gonna loot me :-(
Posted by: Jivha at August 13, 2003 07:08 AM
Thanks Jivha for adding to the story. If I didn't know you were already flat out this week I would have asked you for a photo (of your wrist) but I made do with one I found on the net instead....
Posted by: ozguru at August 13, 2003 07:08 AM
I've always thought henna dye is reddish... (remembering Soviet women with blindingly red henna-dyed hair). I guess it depends on how much it's diluted.
Posted by: Alex(ei) at August 13, 2003 07:08 AM
