Raksha Bandhan

When it falls

Shravana Purnima (the full moon)

• 2026 · Thursday, 27 August 2026
• 2027 · Monday, 16 August 2027

Significance

Raksha Bandhan — "the bond (bandhan) of protection (raksha)" — is the festival of the sibling thread. A sister ties a rakhi, a thread or amulet, around her brother’s wrist; he gives a gift and a vow to look after her. In practice the protection runs both ways — the thread is less a hierarchy than a yearly renewal of "I am yours and you are mine."

It falls on Shravana Purnima, the full moon of the monsoon month of Shravana — also the day many change the sacred thread (upakarma) worn across the shoulder.

How it’s observed

The sister applies a tilak, ties the rakhi, and offers sweets; the brother gives a gift and his promise. The threads now travel by post and across oceans, which suits a diaspora well — the gesture survives the distance.

The timing, explained

Raksha Bandhan is kept on the Purnima (full moon) of Shravana. Because a full moon is one of the easier lunar days to locate, the date is steady within a few weeks of early-to-mid August each year — though, as ever, the moon and not the calendar decides.

Keep reading

• What is Purnima?
• See it on the calendar
• All festivals