MAHOTTARI: The Rakhi festival is being joyfully celebrated across the Mithila region of Madhesh, including Mahottari.
The Maithil community, having sown their rice crops late due to delayed rains, are embracing the festival with renewed happiness.
Observed on the full moon day of the lunar month Shrawan, Rakhi symbolizes love and harmony between brothers and sisters. During the festival, sisters tie a Raksha Sutra (protective thread) on their brothers’ right wrists while praying for their well-being.
In Mithila, the festival is known as ‘Rakhi,’ and preparations have adorned the region with colorful threads for several days. The celebrations have been lively since early morning today.
The recent rains have brought extra cheer to the festival. Maithil residents say the timely showers during the bright half of Shrawan were a blessing, enabling them to sow the main crop, rice, despite earlier drought concerns.
“The long drought had raised fears that crops wouldn’t be planted on time, but the rains brought relief,” said Dhirendra Rai of Jaleshwor-4 Sugabhawanipatti. “When agricultural work suffers, festivals lose their spirit, but this year’s rains have made Rakhi truly joyful.”
Markets have been bustling with vibrant ‘Rakhis’ for days, and women from Mithila have been gathering to buy threads in various colors for their brothers. Alongside, they are preparing sweets, leading to a busy morning at local sweet shops.
Many brothers have returned home from afar to accept their sisters’ invitations to tie Rakhi. Married sisters celebrate the festival either at their own homes or with relatives, while unmarried girls and youth busily prepare at home with support from their parents.
Throughout Mithila, Rakhi reinforces the bonds of love and harmony between siblings, celebrated with traditional songs that express their devotion.
According to Ishwari Poudel, principal of Government Sanskrit Secondary School (Gurukul) in Matihani-7, the festival, rooted in Hindu Maithili tradition, has now become popular among all linguistic and religious communities in the region.
After sisters tie the Rakhi and share sweets, brothers traditionally give clothes, jewelry, and cash (Dakshina) as tokens of affection.
Intellectuals note that Rakhi is an established part of the broader Hindu Raksha Bandhan tradition. Additionally, in Mithila, it is customary for the Guru-Purohit to tie a sacred thread on invited guests during the festival.
However, as Deepak Pandey, a 25-year-old from Bageya Basti in Ekdara Rural Municipality, explains, the main highlight remains the Rakhi tied by sisters.
Legend traces the festival back to Satya Yuga when the rulers of heaven, earth, and hell prepared for battle. Before the demon king Bali’s war against the gods, his guru Shukracharya tied a protective thread (Rakshakawach) prescribed by scriptures.
Bali’s sisters, Ganga and Yamuna, also tied Rakshabandhan threads on his wrist, praying for his victory. To honor Bali’s triumph, it is believed in Mithila that sisters tie Rakhi every year on the full moon day of Shrawan, praying for their brothers’ strength and prosperity.
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