These are the days of ‘challenges’ where an institution or individual starts a good deed and challenges others to do the same and pass it on to others to make it a mass movement.
‘Green challenge’ was one such initiative, a recent one, where IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao planted three saplings as part of Haritha Haram and invited cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman, and actor Mahesh Babu to accept the challenge. The celebrities promptly accepted it and did the needful.
Now, Chilkur Balaji temple has come out with a unique challenge keeping in view the ensuing Raksha Bandhan to promote and celebrate brother-sister bond between young men and women at a time when sexual assaults and atrocities on women are on the rise across India.
A campaign on Raksha Bandhan challenge is on at Chilkur Balaji temple where its chief priest, Ranga Rajan, explains the significance of their initiative.
Interestingly, many young girls and boys accepted the challenge and some even started tying Rakhi to total strangers.
“We are planning to celebrate Rakhi Pournami on August 26 on a grand scale this time. The challenge is for young boys to tie a rakhi to a stranger and to accept her as his sister for life,” says Ranga Rajan.
Indian epics are replete with the narrative of the sacred bond between brothers and sisters. Subhadra is worshipped along with Lord Krishna and Balram in Jagannath Yatra highlighting the relationship between brothers and sisters. Raksha Bandhan and Bhai Dooj are two major festivals devoted to the sacred relationship, he says.
Good response
“We have been getting good response to our campaign from the devotees visiting the temple. On August 26, rakhis will be kept at the temple for women devotees to tie them to any man they come across on the premises. We hope the message goes across and every boy accepts a rakhi from one unknown girl and give her the affection that he gives his own sister,” he said.
