Raksha Bandhan is observed on the last day of the Hindu lunar calendar month of Shraavana, which typically falls in August.[23] On this day, sisters of all ages tie a cotton bracelet or amulet, called the rakhi,[3] around the wrists of their brothers, ritually affirming the bond and support of her brothers, receiving a gift from them in return, and traditionally investing the brothers with a share of the responsibility of their potential care.[24] The expression "Raksha Bandhan," Sanskrit, literally, "the bond of protection, obligation, or care," is now principally applied to this ritual. It has also applied to a similar ritual in which a domestic priest ties string bracelets on the wrists of his patrons and receives gifts of money.[16][25] A ritual associated with Saluno includes the sisters placing shoots of barley behind the ears of their brothers.[13]
Of special significance to married women, Raksha Bandhan is rooted in the practice of territorial exogamy, in which a bride marries outof her natal village or town, and her parents, by custom, do not visit her in her married home.[26] In rural north India, where territorial exogamy is strongly prevalent, large numbers of married Hindu women travel back to their parents' homes every year for the ceremony.[27][28] Their brothers, who typically live with the parents or nearby, sometimes travel to their sisters' married home to escort them back. Many younger married women arrive a few weeks earlier at their natal homes and stay until the ceremony.[29] The brothers serve as lifelong intermediaries between their sisters' married- and parental homes,[30] as well as potential stewards of their security.
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