Roses, bela and velvet: Baba Vishwanath is tied more than twenty rakhis as Sawan closes

The sanctum of Kashi Vishwanath Dham was dressed for Raksha Bandhan on Friday, and the first thread of the day went to the jyotirlinga itself. Before the Mangala Aarti at dawn, a rakhi woven from roses, bela and velvet cloth was offered to Baba Vishwanath. By the time the ritual was done, more than twenty rakhis in all had been placed in the garbhagriha — a Kashi custom in which the city's presiding deity is treated as a brother on the day the rest of the country ties threads at home. The Bhog Aarti followed at midday, with the shringar left in place for devotees to see. Because the temple counts Sawan Purnima among its special days, the usual booking restrictions were set aside and the Dham's gates stayed open to walk-in darshan. Queues built through the morning, with women from the city's lanes and from far outside the district asking for their brothers' wellbeing before moving on. The day carried a second weight this year: Sawan ends on this very Purnima, so the month's last darshan and Raksha Bandhan fell together, a coincidence priests and panchang readers have been calling a double auspicious alignment. The evening's jhulan shringar, the swing on which Baba is seated at the close of Sawan, drew the heaviest crowd of all.

Compiled by HelloBanaras from public sources: Amar Ujala