Other Festivals Celebrated on Raksha Bandhan Day
Raksha Bandhan falls on Shravan Purnima — the full moon day of the Hindu month of Shravan. In the Hindu calendar, Purnima days carry particular spiritual significance, and Shravan Purnima is among the most auspicious of all full moon nights in the year. It is precisely this auspiciousness that has made it the occasion for multiple festivals across different regions, communities and traditions in India.
Raksha Bandhan is the most widely observed of these celebrations, but it is not the only one. Across India, the same day is marked by communities in different ways — some connected to the sibling bond, others rooted in entirely separate religious and agricultural traditions that simply share the same sacred date. This page covers the other festivals that fall on Raksha Bandhan day, giving the full picture of what Shravan Purnima means across the country.
Balarama Jayanti
Shravan Purnima is the birthday of Balarama — the elder brother of Lord Krishna and one of the most revered figures in Vaishnavite tradition. Balarama is celebrated as a symbol of strength, loyalty and the protective power of an elder sibling, and his Jayanti falling on the same day as Raksha Bandhan is considered deeply fitting — a day that celebrates the brother's protective role in both mythology and family life.
Balarama Jayanti is observed with prayers, temple visits and the recitation of Balarama's stories from the Puranas and the Mahabharata. In Vaishnava communities, it is a significant occasion that runs alongside the Raksha Bandhan celebrations rather than separate from them — the two festivals reinforcing the same theme of sibling love and protection from different directions.
Rakhi Purnima
In many parts of North India, Raksha Bandhan itself is referred to as Rakhi Purnima — the Purnima of the Rakhi. The name emphasises the lunar calendar significance of the occasion rather than the sibling ritual specifically. Purnima means full moon night, and the festival is understood as much as a celebration of the full moon's auspiciousness as it is a celebration of the brother-sister bond.
The term Rakhi Purnima is particularly common in regions where the full moon day of Shravan carries additional religious observances — prayers, fasting, ritual bathing in sacred rivers — that accompany the Rakhi tying ceremony. In these traditions the day is experienced as a complete spiritual occasion rather than a single festival.
Narali Purnima
Along the western coast of India — particularly in Maharashtra and among fishing communities in Goa and Gujarat — Shravan Purnima is celebrated as Narali Purnima, the festival of the coconut. Narali comes from the Marathi word for coconut, and the festival marks the end of the monsoon season and the beginning of the fishing season when the seas calm sufficiently for boats to go out safely.
On Narali Purnima, fishermen perform a prayer ceremony at the sea, offering coconuts to Varuna — the god of the sea and water — as an expression of gratitude and a request for safe and plentiful fishing in the season ahead. The coconut, considered a pure and auspicious fruit in Hindu tradition, is thrown into the sea as an offering. Boats are decorated, prayers are offered, and the community gathers at the waterfront for a celebration that connects their livelihood directly to the divine.
The Rakhi ceremony is observed in Maharashtra alongside Narali Purnima — the two festivals coexisting on the same day, each meaningful in its own right.
Gamha Purnima
In Odisha, Shravan Purnima is celebrated as Gamha Purnima — a festival of gratitude toward cattle, particularly cows and bullocks, which are central to agricultural life in rural Odisha. The word Gamha refers to cattle, and on this day animals that work the land are honoured, decorated and worshipped.
Cows and bullocks are bathed, their horns are painted and decorated with colour, and they are offered special food as a gesture of thanks for their labour. In many rural communities, the day is treated as a rest day for the animals — a recognition that their contribution to the family's survival deserves acknowledgment and celebration. Prayers are offered for the health and long life of the cattle, and the occasion has a warm, community-oriented character that reflects the deep connection between agricultural communities and the animals they depend upon.
In Odisha, Gamha Purnima is observed with the same significance as Raksha Bandhan is in the north — it is the primary festival of the day for many communities in the state.
Jhulan Purnima
Jhulan Purnima — also known as Jhulan Yatra — is a Vaishnava festival celebrated primarily in West Bengal, Odisha and Vrindavan, the sacred city associated with Lord Krishna's childhood. The festival celebrates the swinging (jhulan) of the divine couple Krishna and Radha — images of Krishna and Radha are placed on decorated swings and gently swung by devotees as an act of devotion and celebration.
Jhulan Yatra typically extends across five days in the month of Shravan, culminating on Shravan Purnima. In Vrindavan, the celebrations attract thousands of pilgrims and are among the most visually spectacular festivals of the year — temples decorated with flowers, devotional songs filling the air, and the swinging of the divine images at the centre of every ceremony.
In West Bengal, Jhulan Purnima is a significant occasion that runs alongside the Rakhi celebrations, the two festivals giving the day a layered character — the sibling bond of Raksha Bandhan and the devotional celebration of Jhulan Yatra observed simultaneously in many Bengali households.
Kajari Purnima
In parts of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, Shravan Purnima is observed as Kajari Purnima — a festival associated with women's prayers for the wellbeing of their sons. Kajari is the name given to the folk songs sung by women during the monsoon season in these regions, and the Purnima marks the conclusion of a period of fasting and prayer that begins earlier in the month of Shravan.
On Kajari Purnima, women who have observed the fast break it with specific rituals — offering prayers to Bhagwati (the goddess) and to the sacred Kajari tree, and receiving blessings for their children's long life and prosperity. The festival reflects the particular spiritual role that women occupy in these communities during the monsoon months, when the agricultural cycle and the religious calendar align closely.
In regions where Kajari Purnima is observed, the day carries dual significance — Raksha Bandhan as the festival of sibling love and Kajari Purnima as the festival of a mother's prayers for her children, both marking the same auspicious full moon from different directions.
Avani Avittam and Upakarma
Avani Avittam — also known as Upakarma — is one of the most significant observances in South Indian Brahmin tradition, falling on Shravan Purnima in the Tamil and Telugu calendar. The name Avani refers to the Tamil month that typically coincides with Shravan, and Avittam is the name of the nakshatra (lunar star) under which the ceremony is traditionally performed.
Upakarma is the ceremony in which Brahmin men change their Yajnopavit — the sacred thread worn across the body as a symbol of their initiation into Vedic study. The thread, which has been worn throughout the previous year, is ritually removed and a new one is put in its place. The ceremony is understood as an act of spiritual renewal — the old thread carrying the accumulated weight of the past year's actions, the new thread representing a fresh beginning and a recommitment to Vedic learning and righteous conduct.
On the day of Upakarma, Brahmin men also perform Kamokaarshit Japa — a recitation intended to seek forgiveness for transgressions committed knowingly or unknowingly during the past year. The following day, Gayatri Japam is performed — a sustained recitation of the Gayatri Mantra as an act of purification and devotion.
Avani Avittam is observed primarily in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and in some communities in parts of Odisha and Maharashtra. The timing of the ceremony varies slightly depending on the regional calendar — some communities observe it on the Shravan Purnima itself, others on the day of the Dhanistha nakshatra which may fall slightly differently in the same period. For the full list of regional names and variations associated with this observance, visit our Regional Names of Rakhi page.
Jandhyam Purnima
Jandhyam Purnima is the name given to the Shravan Purnima observance in Telugu-speaking communities in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Jandhyam is a Telugu word for the sacred thread — the Yajnopavit — and the Purnima refers to the full moon occasion on which the thread-changing ceremony (equivalent to the Upakarma observed in Tamil Nadu) is performed.
The ceremony follows the same essential structure as Avani Avittam — the old sacred thread is removed and a new one is worn, accompanied by Vedic recitations and prayers for spiritual renewal. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the day is known by this regional name while carrying the same underlying significance as the Upakarma observed in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
In many Telugu-speaking households, Jandhyam Purnima and Raksha Bandhan are observed together on the same day — the sacred thread of the Jandhyam ceremony and the Rakhi thread of the sibling festival both carrying meanings of protection, bond and renewal, tied on the same auspicious Purnima.
Explore More About Raksha Bandhan
Shravan Purnima is one of the richest days in the Hindu calendar — a single full moon night that carries different meanings for different communities across India, all connected by the auspiciousness of the occasion. To explore more about Raksha Bandhan and the traditions surrounding it, visit our related pages: