RAKSHA BANDHAN FALLS DURING THE MONTH OF SAWAN ON PURNIMA, i.e. the day of the full moon according to the Vikram calendar ( Hindu calender). As per the English calendar, this festival comes sometime in July or August. It herads the arrival of the monsoon.

Raksha Bandhan or Saluno represents one of the most sentimental festivals of India. 

It is based on the emotional ties that bind a brother and sister in a very close bond-the most sacred relationship of life, without any ulterior motive or demand of any kind-that nature has bestowed on mankind.

The sister ties a rakhi on the right-hand wrist of all her brother on this day and they acknowledge this relationship by accepting it with grace and love. With this rakhi, she bestows deep affection and blessing on her brother so as to guard them against all harm, and prays to the Almighty to give the very best to them. These feelings are the ones that symbolise Raksha bandhan. Gifts of money and/or other present are given to a sister on this occasion are not of any consequence, but only a symbolic gesture.

The lady of the house cleans and bathes the goddesses. The puja rooms is swept and cleaned with a cloth, and a chowk is laid out on the floor. The puja thaal-with water, roli, aipun, rice, flower, coconut, kalava, batashas, paans and rakhi which have been received by post or brought in as teeka by sisters living in the family. A daughter of the same town-is placed before the gods. A rakhi should be tied onto or placed before the chief deity of the family. A daughter of the house must apply the teeka and tie the rakhis on the wrists of the menfolk, if a sister is not present but has sent the rakhi and teeka to the brother's house.

The unmarried daughter can perform the ceremony in the absence of her aunts or elder married sisters. The teeka is applied by the thumb on the forehead, along with the roli, and then a little rice is stucj onto the roli. A small thaal should e arranged seperately from the teeka thaal, with water, roli, aipun and rice, and passed around for everyone's convenience to do the individual puja - first with rice and flowers. This is done by dipping the third finger of the rignt hand in the liquid, and with the help of the thumb, sprinkling the contents onto the gods from afar - three times for each liquid. The dipping of the finger can be done once in each liquid but the spraying is done thrice, by holding the third finger by the thumb and then letting it go with a jerk. The rice is picked up and showered onto the gods. From forehead of their brother, and then tie the rakhi. They also put some mithai in his mouth and bless him silently. However, if a brother is not present, a coconut is taken in the left hand and a symbolic teeka put on its border tide. The puja of Raksha Bandhan is performed in the morning as the family members disperse early for their places of work or study, it normally disperse early for their places of work or study, it normally being a working day. The men hurry away with the rakhi and teeka intact , as it is a matter of pride to show that one is loved and cared for at home. 

Once upon a time there was a couple who wanted a child very much, and prayed to God to give them a son. Since they were both very pious God listened to them and soon they were blessed with a baby boy. They were full with joy and named him Sharavan kumar. The boy grew up to be a very dutiful son, and fulfilled all the hopes and all the hopes and aspirations of his parents. The parents slowly grew old and feeble, and both of them lost their eyesight. 

They realised one day that they had not undertaken any pilgrimage, and asked their son, who was by new strong young man, to take them to a holy place where the Ganga flowed, so that they could take a dip in its cool waters and wash away their sins.The son wanted to fulfil his parent's last wish, and so he built a baingi (a long pole with two baskets hanging on both ends, one basket for carrying his father and one for his mother for they were feeble and could not walk far). 

So, it came about that Shravan carried his parents felt thirsty, and asked their son for water. Shravan could hear a stream gurgling nearby, so he took a small pitcher and left his parents under a tree. At this moment, Raja Dasharath was out hunting. At that stage of life he was a very sad man as he had no children, although he had three wives. The king was also near the stream when Shravan went to fetch water. Dashrath heard some rustling voices. 

He felt sure that it was a deer which had come to drink water, and did not wait to confirm this, but shot an arrow into the thicket. It was poor Shravan whom the arrow pierced near the heart. Shravan cried out in pain, and King Dashrath realised that he had shot a man. He quickly ran to the man and saw him in the throes of death, with a lota lying nearby. Slowly and gently, he lifted Shravan and made his head rest on his knee. Shravan could hardly speak but somehow managed to tell the king about his blind mother and father waiting for him to give them water to quench their thirst. The king offered to take the water to them, but Shravan was apprehensive as once they knew it was not their son, they would not drink the water. So he told the king not to speak to them but to give them the water first, and then only tell them about their son's death. And Shravan Kumar soon died on the lap of the king. The king took the lota and filled it with water, and made his way towards the tree where the blind couple were sitting in their baskets. As the king approached them, they asked with one voice if it was Shravan who had come to give them water, and why he was so late? The king did not reply but still they persisted.The king handed them the pitcher filled with water, but they would not take it, and insisted on knowing who it was, for they knew that it was not their son Shravan. King Dashrath slowly told them what had happened. On hearing this terrible news, they pushed the pitcher from the hand of the king and the cursed him thus:
 'May your death also be due to agony of the heart while waiting for your son, so that you may know one day the pain that you have brought upon us'. 

Saying this they fell down dead. King Dashrath was very sad because the words from such pure hearts always come true. The morale of the story is that Shravan did not have a sister and no one had ever tied a rakhi to protect him in time of danger. Therefore, everyone should have a rakhi tied, even by an adopted sister. At the end of the story narration the puja is completed and everyone sits down to eat and drink with joy in their hearts.