The bond shared between brothers and sisters in India is celebrated in two ways – either as Rakshabandhan or as Bhai Dooj. Both of them could also be celebrated since they have different meanings.

While Rakshabandhan is the tying of a thread by the sister on the hand of her brother, Bhai Dooj is her putting a mark of Vermillion, known as Tilak, on his forehead. But the kind of application is not the only way of differentiating between the two. 

While in modern times we celebrate Rakshabandhan as the sister tying a thread on her brother’s hand, the origin did not make it specific for only the brother. The thread was a mark to show that the woman wanted the person she tied the thread on to be safe and live a longer life. It could be a sister, cousin, sister-in-law, aunt or any non-blood-related female who can tie it.

The Bhavishya Purana has a legend from when there was a battle going on between Gods and demons. The war was just not coming to end and so Lord Indra’s wife Sachi went to Lord Vishnu seeking a solution. He gave her a holy bracelet made of a cotton thread. She tied it on her husband’s hand and he was able to ultimately defeat the demon king, Bali and come home. Earlier accounts also describe how women tied amulets on their husbands when they were leaving for war, as a way to celebrate this festival.

On Bhai Dooj, sisters apply a tilak on her brother’s forehead to express her wish that her brother must be protected from all evils. There are two popular legends associated with it. The first is that of Yamaraj, the God of Death, and his sister Yamuna. Yamaraj had gone to visit his twin sister and on seeing him she applied a tilak on his head and offered an aarti. Yamaraj had come empty-handed, but on seeing this he declared that from then onwards whenever someone celebrated Bhai Dooj with her brother, the brother would not go to Hell. 

The other story is of Lord Krishna who went to visit his sister Subhadra after defeating the demon Narakasura. She welcomed him with flowers, aarti and a tilak which is said to begin the tradition of sisters praying for their brothers.

Rakhi is the brother’s promise to protect the sister and Bhai Dooj is the sister’s prayers for her brother.

But, whichever you do follow in present times, one thing does remain common – the brother is supposed to gift his sister with something on either occasion!