How to Celebrate Raksha Bandhan Online or Virtually?

We are indeed compelled to think outside the box in almost all the areas of human interaction. The festival of Raksha Bandhan has been celebrated since time immemorial in the Hindu way of life. There has hardly been any need to even think or discuss as to how to celebrate Raksha Bandhan online in the history of humanity. But, here we are discussing precisely that which has never been thought or discussed in the history of Raksha Bandhan celebration.

It is obvious that when we are counting the ways to celebrate Raksha Bandhan online, we are also encouraging and facilitating the sisters to send rakhi to their brothers online. We have discussed it thoroughly in our previous post: “How to Send Rakhi to Brothers Online?”

So, your rakhi has reached your brother through Babla Rakhi at the right time and at the right place. Now what? Of course, celebration. And, how to do it. Let us explore together.

The first reaction of any brother when he receives rakhi from his sister is to make a quick phone call or message with the photograph of the stunning rakhi that the sister has sent. It is during this first conversation the next course of action gets decided. Since, we encourage booking the rakhi orders 15 days in advance, it is likely that your rakhi has reached at least a day before the festival of Raksha Bandhan. Here are ways to celebrate Raksha Bandhan virtually after the first acknowledgment call:

Video call

A video call is one of the best options to connect virtually on the day of Raksha Bandhan. Though, you cannot perform rituals physically, you can certainly see each other online. The rituals of performing aarti, applying kumum and chawal on the forehead of the brother, tying rakhi on his wrist, and offering him the sweets can be performed by any of the family members of the brother, and the sister can watch the entire ceremony during the video call. This can feel as good as being physically present with the brother and his family. There are many virtual platforms to make a video call, i.e. WhatsApp, Teams, Zoom, Google Meet, Skype etc. Each platform offers different type of user experience. You can choose any of these as per your preference.

Platforms like Zoom and Skype gives you the option to record the videos so that you can keep them as a precious memory of wonderful virtual celebration of Raksha Bandhan. Make sure to choose the platform that makes virtual celebration of Raksha Bandhan as memorable and as pleasant as the physical celebration that we all are quite accustomed to.

Just a simple voice call

There may be brothers and sisters who are more comfortable with voice energy. Also, at times, due to the issues in internet connection, video call may not be the best choice to celebrate Raksha Bandhan online. A simple, relatively old method of a phone call can be the best way to celebrate Raksha Bandhan virtually. It can also be a conference call where you invite other siblings or family members to join the celebration. You can recite a poem or a song while on a phone call to celebrate the spirit of the festival of Raksha Bandhan. Words and voice have the power to create the magic and this magic is good enough to serve as one of the ways to celebrate Raksha Bandhan virtually.

Email

Well, this is for the old souls still thriving and kicking in the digital era. Though, this too is a newer one in comparison to writing a letter, it indeed falls in the category of ‘old’. But, as they say, old is gold. And, so, if you are the brothers and sisters who are still enamoured of magical world of the written word, this is for you. You can write a long email to your brother on the day of Raksha Bandhan, expressing your feelings. Needless to say that this provides you an excellent outlet to pour your heart out that can melt your brothers’ heart and bring smile on his face. The brothers too can reciprocate and bring the same joy in the hearts of the sisters.

Video messages

If people can demand video resume for a job, you can certainly prepare a nice, warm, special video for your brother to make his Raksha Bandhan special. This is one of the very exciting and fun ways to celebrate Raksha Bandhan virtually. This can also surprise your brother. This also allows you to let loose and experiment in as many ways as you can imagine. Only things needed to get this accomplished are handy camera, good light, and heart full of love and wishes for the brother!

Chat

This too is a very interesting and exciting way to celebrate Raksha Bandhan virtually, especially for those brothers and sisters who love to be constantly on the messaging apps. Chat can offer various emojis, GIFs, Raksha Bandhan special stickers to add fun in the chat. You can also share variety of videos with each other during this festival special chat. So, this can really add fun in virtual celebration of Raksha Bandhan and make it more memorable.

Virtual lunch or dinner party

When you wish to bring all the family members together in this virtual celebration of Raksha Bandhan, it is a good idea to make a video call, and eat lunch or dinner together on both sides of the screen. Yes, it is possible. You can even decide the menu in advance. And, plan accordingly. This would give you the feel of eating together on this day of Raksha Bandhan. For example, if your brother likes rabadi, and you want to surprise him, you can make it as a surprise item even if you have decided the menu in advance. Isn’t it fun? It is. This is just one example of adding the elements of fun and spirit of togetherness on the day of festival of Raksha Bandhan. You can think of many such ideas, and make your virtual lunch or dinner party even more enjoyable.

Twinning celebration

This is also one of the ways to celebrate Raksha Bandhan virtually. Brothers and sisters have many shared memories while growing up together. For example, you may have a story related to an outfit. You may have shared liking of any colour or any accessory or jewellery. While celebrating Raksha Bandhan virtually, brothers and sisters can decide to twin any of these shared interests. For example, if both of you have loved a chain, or an outfit, or both of you like any colour the most, you can twin it on a video call and take the fun quotient of the virtual celebration of Raksha Bandhan a notch higher. You can also twin any anecdote running in the family. For example, an incident that you have shared in your growing up years can have interesting brother sister version of it. This kind of sharing brings the feeling of being together as well as nostalgia even if it is a virtual celebration.

These are just some of the ways you can celebrate Raksha Bandhan virtually. There may be number of other ways to celebrate Raksha Bandhan virtually. You just need to think out of the box and be at ease with the current situation of social distancing.

The festival of Raksha Bandhan has mythological, cultural, historical roots. Hence, there are many stories that revolve round this festival. In spite of its origins in the Hindu way of life, this festival has organically transcended itself into pan-cultural, pan-religious, and pan-regional celebration, validating Babla Rakhi’s mantra: “Bonds matter, Boundaries don’t.” We would keep exploring all this and much more in our next blog posts. Stay tuned for our next post here.

Do spread the word and share our portal to send rakhi online with other sisters across the world. Let them too have the best online rakhi deliver experience which brings smile on brother’s face.

Frequently Asked Questions about Rakhi Celebration Online