According to Hindu mythology, Indrani, the wife of Lord Indra tied a thread around his wrists when he was going to fight with the demons. Gradually, the significance of the relationship changed and the thread was then tied by a sister to her brother’s wrist.

It is believed that Lord Vishnu granted a boon to demon king Bali that he would stay at his palace, but the Goddess Lakshmi did not want to do so. She tied a rakhi to Bali and asked that he should allow Lord Vishnu to leave, in return.

When Lord Ganesha’s sons, Shubh and Labh, saw his sister tying a rakhi to Ganesha, they asked him for a sister, so that they could also celebrate the festival of Raksha Bandhan. Lord Ganesha granted their wish and created a daughter from the fire, who came to be known as Santoshi Ma.

There is another historical story about Raksha Bandhan. It is said that King Porus restrained from killing Alexander the Great in the battlefield because Alexander’s wife had sent a rakhi to Porus.

The great freedom fighter and poet, Rabindranath Tagore tried to strengthen the ties between Hindus and Muslims by asking them to tie Rakhis to each other. He wanted to unify them in the struggle against the colonial rule.