History
The festival of Raksha Bandhan is known to have originated centuries before and there are several legends related to the celebration of this festival.
In the Mahabharata, Krishna had hurt his finger when he had sent his Sudarshan Chakra from his finger to behead Shishupala. Seeing his bleeding finger, Draupadi had torn a strip of her saree and tied around his injured finger to stop the bleeding. Moved by the gesture, Krishna promised her that he will protect her from all evils throughout his life and pledged to repay the debt of gratitude in her future.
As per an account of Bhagavata Purana and Vishnu Purana, when Vishnu won the three worlds from the king Bali, he asked by the king to stay beside him in the palace. Vishnu accepted the requested and started living with the king Bali. However, Goddess Lakshmi, wife of Vishnu wanted to return to Vaikuntha. So, she tied the thread (Rakhi) around the wrist of king Bali, and made him a brother. On asking about the return gift, Goddess Lakshmi asked Bali to free her husband from the vow and let him return to Vaikuntha. Bali agreed to the request and Vishnu returned to Vaikuntha with his wife, Goddess Lakshmi.
