HINDU FASTS & FESTIVALS : 9-1.

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9. Raksha Bandhan-1.

RAKSHA BANDHAN is called Avani Avittam in South India.

This falls on the full moon day of the month of Sravan (August-September).

It is an important Hindu festival.

Hindus wear a new holy thread and offer libations of water to the ancient Rishis on this day.


Recitation of the Vedas on this great day is highly beneficial.

This festival is also known as Upakarmam, and is specially sacred to the Brahmins, who have been invested with the sacred thread.

When the Brahmin boy is invested with this holy thread, symbolically his third eye, or the eye of wisdom, is opened.

This festival of Upakarmam reminds the wearer of the sacred thread of its glorious spiritual significance.

Brahmins also offer libations of water to their ancestors to whom they owe their birth and to the great Rishis to whom they are highly indebted for their spiritual knowledge and the Vedas themselves.

The true Hindu never forgets his benefactors!

Swami Sivananda
 To be continued  ...


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