Raksha Bandhan is a Sanskrit word, where Raksha means Protection and Bandhan means to bind , it basically means to tie the knot of protection .

Rakshabandhan or Rakhi celebrated on the full-moon day of the Hindu month of Sravana (July/August), this festival celebrates the love of a brother for his sister. On this day, sisters bind rakhi on the wrists of their brothers to protect them against evil influences, and pray for their long life and happiness. They in turn, give a present which is a promise that they will protect their sisters from any harm. Within these Rakhis reside sacred emotions and well wishes.

The history of Rakhi dates back to Hindu mythology. As per Hindu mythology, in Mahabharata, the great Indian epic, Draupadi, wife of the Pandavas had torn the corner of her sari to prevent Lord Krishna's wrist from bleeding. Thus, a bond, that of brother and sister developed between them, and he promised to defend her. Another Hindu mythology talks about the king of demons, Bali, praised Lord Vishnu and asked him to stay with him in his kingdom in return. That made goddess Lakshmi, Lord Vishnu s wife, quite uncomfortable, and she thought of a trick to get her husband back to live with her. She binded a holy thread on the wrist of King Bali, thereby making him her brother. When the king asked the goddess Laxmi to make a wish, she asked her husband, Lord Vishnu, to be sent back with her freely. The king accepted her wish out of respect for the holy thread that built a new relationship of brother-sister between him and the goddess.

On the day of Rakhi, families get together, married women visit their parent's house to bind a thread to their brothers. It is a day to arrange a gorgeous feast for brothers and sisters with finger-licking dishes. Sweets like barfi, kheer, halwa, laddoos are prepared at home.

The festival has found its root in the Hindu religion but it is not limited to any caste or religion. Rakshabandhan is a time to indulge in Indian sweets and delicacies. There are a range of sweets you can explore with this Indian festival but laddu has its own significant.

If tomorrow India has to pick a national sweet dish, the most likely contender should be the laddu. And for some good, hearty reasons. To begin with, it is an omnipresent sweet – and by this we do not only mean its unmistakable presence in every festival and occasion including Rakhi, but the fact that every region in India has a version of its own.

An excellent example of this is the Coconut Ladoo. Not only does this easy version has close to a dozen styles of making it, the oldest form called the Narayl Nakru in South dates back to the time of the Chola Empire when it was a sweet that was collected for travelers and warriors as a symbol of good luck for their expeditions. Yet another version is the Foxtail Millet Ladoos, which is the prasadam at the Lord Muruga temple today.

According to ancient Indian scriptures, the god has created laddu with their power in the faith of goddess Parvati. When both Shiva children asked laddu then goddess Parvati asked to prove their superiority. Lord Ganesha proved his superiority and gets that laddu. Since then, laddu or modak offer to lord Ganesha.

The round figure and round seeds of laddu are the symbol of Mercury. The sweetness of laddu relates with Sun-Mars. The fragrance of laddu relates with Moon. The dry fruits in laddu are the symbol of Venus. The yellow color of laddu relates with Jupiter. The unequal seeds control the Rahu-Ketu. Therefore, one laddu controls nine planets. The bundi laddu is beneficial for astrology and planets.

Eastern folklore often talk about the accidental innovative of the laddu when a ved’s assistant to cover up the extra ghee he poured in a mix turned them into tiny roundels that eventually took the form of the smooth egg balls we see today. Was it the real way how laddus were invented? While there is little document that support this story, Ayurvedic scripts are replete with recipes that can be considered the first iteration of the laddus.

One of the earliest examples of this was of sesame seeds, jaggery and peanuts, which we all today known as til ke laddu. It is said that around 4BC heroic surgeon Susruta The Elder, began using this as an antiseptic to treat his surgical patients. For convenient edibility, the sesame seeds were coated with jaggery or honey and shaped into a ball. The archaic legend of Gilgamesh mentions Enkidu’s diet as consisting of, among other interesting things, worms, figs, cucumbers, honey and bread made of sesame flour, which was again made into a roundel or a laddu so that he could have it with ease.

Perverse to how laddus may have come to the fore, their evolution was a sweet journey that began with the spice route and through the temples, which found it a much better way of serving the prasadam without partiality. Of course, the fact that ladoos, and the way they were made, gave them the extra shelf life only added to their popularity as they could be carried to long distances without being spoilt.

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