A day before Janai Purnima the persons
wearing Janai should make themselves 'clean' by shaving or cutting hair and
take a good bath. They undergo partial fasting, taking only one meal of foods
considered to be 'clean' - no meat, no onions or garlic. Before the big event
Hindus prefer to clean their body by keeping fasting. Satvic food is prescribed
for all Hindu rituals and festivals.
In the Purnima
morning men usually go to rivers and ponds nearby, to take secret bath dipping
himself thrice in the water. Men, then change their Janai. Break the old
ones.
Janai is a cotton string worn across
the chest by a Hindu male. This thread is only given to males during a long and impressive
religious ceremony called ‘Bratabandhan’. Bratabandhan is basically a formal
process of accepting someone in the religion. The Janai initiates the boy
into manhood and commands them to devotedly follow the religion and the path of
truth. The Janai must be worn every day of their lives after they listen to their
mantra from the guru during the Bartabandha.
Janai is the triple cord made of cotton. First three regarded as a symbol of the Brahma, Bishnu, Shiva, second three; Action, Meditation and
Knowledge. Someone believed that three loans that mean God loan, Forefather
loan, and Sage loan.
It is a symbol of body, speech and mind and
when the knots are tied the person wearing it is supposed to gain complete
control over each of them.
Rakshya
Bandhan Doro
Rakshya means "to protect"
and Bandhan is "tie" or "bond". Rakshya Bandhan is a bond
or tie of protection. This thread is which is tied around the hand is called
Doro.
In Raksha Bandhan day male, female,
children, and kids regardless of status and caste get tied a Doro (sacred
colorful thread) around their wrist. Generally, males get tied the thread
around their right and the women around their left wrist.
They believe Doro brings them good
luck when one believes, that always becomes true. People keep the Doro tied in
wrist till on Laxmi Puja day in Deepawali. This thread is then taken out from the wrist and tied on the tail of a cow in the cow worship day (Laxmi puja) in
about October.
Hindu believes that they have to cross a
river Baitarni after death to reach heaven. The cow will help him/her to cross
the river Baitarni, by allowing the dead to cling to her tail if he/she ties
the doro to the tail of a cow on Laxmi Puja day.
"येन बद्धो बलि राजा दानवेन्द्रो माहावल:।
तेन त्वं प्रतिवध्नामी रक्षेमा चलमा चल।।"
Meaning:
Rakhi Day
This festival is also marked by the tying of a rakhi, or
holy thread, by the sister on the wrist of her brother
Kwati Purnima or Gunhi Punhi
This day is also called Kwati Punhi, where Kwati is a
soup of different beans and Punhi means the full moon day. Newar people also
put the sacred threads around the wrists which are to be taken off on the day
of Laxmi Puja, another festival in Tihar.
Stories behind Rakshya Bandhan
Krishna and Draupadi
Another incident is from the epic Mahabharat and concerns
Krishna and Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas. She had once torn a strip of
silk off her sari and tied it around Krishna's wrist to stop the bleeding from
a battlefield wound. Krishna was touched by her action and declared her to be
his sister, even though they were unrelated. He promised to repay the debt and
then spent the next 25 years doing just that. Draupadi, inspite of being
married to 5 great warriors and being a daughter of a powerful monarch, trusted
and depended wholly on Krishna. Krishna repaid the debt of love during the
"Cheer-Haran" (literally "clothing-robbing") of
Draupadi, which occurred in the assembly of King Dhritarashtra when Pandavas
lost her to the Kauravas in gambling. At that time, Krishna indefinitely
extended her saree through divine intervention, so it could not be removed, to
save her honor. This is how he honored his rakhi-vow towards
Draupadi.
King Bali and Goddess Laxmi
According to a legend, the Demon King Bali was a great
devotee of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu had taken up the task to guard his kingdom
leaving his own home in Vaikunth. Goddess Lakshmi wished to be with her lord
back in her abode. She went to Bali disguised as a woman to seek refuge until
her husband came back.
During the Shravan Purnima celebrations, Lakshmi tied the
sacred thread to the King. Upon being asked, she revealed who she was and why
she was there. The king was touched by her goodwill for his family and her
purpose and requested the Lord to accompany her. He sacrificed all he had for
the Lord and his devoted wife.
Thus the festival is also called Baleva that is Bali
Raja's devotion to the Lord. It is said that since then it has been a tradition
to invite sisters in Shravan Purnima for the thread tying ceremony or the
Raksha Bandhan.
Reference: http://www.weallnepali.com/nepali-festivals/janaipurnima
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