Rakhi has a lot of stories around them. During the Mahabharata, it is believed that Draupadi tied a rakhi on Krishna’s wrist when he had injured his finger while using his sudarshan chakra against the king Shishupalal. While Krishna’s hand was bleeding, Draupadi tore a piece from her sari and tied it around his hand. In return, Krishna vowed that he would always be there to protect Draupadi.

Raksha Bandhan is observed on the last day of the Hindu lunar calendar month of Shravan.

Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore started a mass Raksha Bandhan festival during the Partition of Bengal (1905), in which he encouraged Hindu and Muslim women to tie a rakhi on men from the other community and make them their brothers. The exercise was designed to counter British efforts to create a divide between Hindus and Muslims.