India is a land of festivals and fairs. As per Hindu mythology, each of the 365 days of the year is celebrated as a festival in one way or the other. Compared with other countries India has the greatest number of recognisd holidays and perhaps this is the reason why people in other countries view of Indians as celebrating a great deal.

The main festivals are Raksha Bandhan, the festival of pure relations, Holi, the festival of colour; Dussehra, the festival of light. In each there is deep spiritual, social, scientific and ethical significance.  Moreover, each festival is correlated and interdependent and all make of a cycle.

In the Indian society, there is the concept of casteism. There are four major castes, such as Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. There are four main festivals named Raksha Bandhan, Vijaya Dashami, Diwali, and Holi. In Indian scriptures, there is a literal explanation of casteismand they have linked a particular festival to a particular caste.

Though all people celebrate all festivals in general, but a particular caste celebrates a particular festival in country district. For example, the Brahmins perform all social rituals and teach other sections of society, because they are considered to be the highest caste. Therefore, Rakshi, the first festival is related to them. The Kshatriyas,  the warrior caste, are always shown with bows and arrows.

Hence, Vijayadashami is the festival meant specially for them. Vaishyas who are mainly business people and deal with money, have deepawali as their festival. The rest is considered to be the Sudras and Holi is mainly celebrated by them. On Holi, people throw colour, mud and dust at each other.

If we go into the depth of the above, we come to the conclusion that there must be a deeper explanation.  God Father (Shiv Baba) has given us a very clear picture,  concerning them by saying that all festivals are memorial of the present Confluence Age (Sangam Yuga).

By Confluence Age we mean a short period of time at the end of the grim ages world, when God comes to bring about the real Golden Age of peace,  purity and prosperity and are particularly related to spiritually born Brahmins. By spiritually born Brahmins it is meant those people irrespective of caste, creed and race, etc., who have taken a vow of total purity in their lives and who have renounced all vices .

They have been born spiritually through the month of Prajapita Brahma, due, they recognize Godly knowledge.  Shiv baba has explained the spiritual significance of each and every festival.

Let’s start with the auspicious festival of Raksha Bandhan which falls in the month of Shravan of the Indian calendar year. This month is considered to be very sacred. Secondly, rakhi is the first major celebration of the Hindu year and on the day of Rakhi, Brahmins go from door to door and tie the sacred thread to all members of the family, irrespective of sex, age, etc. The spiritual meaning is not that the month of shravanis sacred but the whole Confluence Age is auspicious and also sacred since God comes at this time.

Further, Rakhi is the first festival and based on purity. When God-Father comes in the Confluence Age,  he first ties the sacred thread of purity to all of us, irrespective of caste,  creed , language and race etc. In the worldly customs, the sisters tie a thread on the wrist of their brothers. This means actually that Shiv Baba makes mother/sisters responsible and accountable for rendering the knowledge (imparted only at the Confluence Age), e.g., the concept of purity to others. Of course, brothers also become helpers in this great task and both do this together.

It is one very wonderful thing that all festivals are interrelated and one complements the other. In this way it forms a cycle. Let’s take Rakshabandhan with which the chain begins. Its spiritual meaning is to observe purity. In the very same way, when Shiv Baba comes at the Confluence Age. 

He says, “ sweet children, firstly wear the thread of purity, ie, become completely pure. There should not be any impurity in your thinking even in dreams”. When we do so, we conquer the vices. Likewise,  rakhi is followed by Vijayadashami,  which is the memorial of our victorious stage, when we achieve victory over vices.

Vijayadashami is symbolic of the victory of truth over falsehood,  ie, coming to know the self accurately,  thus are able to rule over self. If someone has compared all vices, then there would be light all around.

This is when the festival of Deepawali is celebrated.  During this festival, people are peaceful and happy and exchange expensive gifts, symbolising prosperity. 

At the end comes the festival of Holi. Its spiritual significance is that someone is determined to be pure and to win over all vices, he gets coloured with the colour of perfection of God.

Only then  the soul can go back with God-Father to it’s original home whence it came down to the physical world and in this way, the cycle is completed.

Now we should check ourselves. Are we prepared to celebrate Raksha Bandhan in all respects or do we simply consider it a tradition that on Rakhi day there is special Bhog and the senior sisters would tie a thread and when the festival is over, we become busy in our daily affairs and look forward to the next celebration.  Actually for us every moment, every hour, and every day of the Confluence Age is of great pleasure and extreme importance.

 On the basis of this, we can see whether our progress is according to the programme or it is a natural and fast process.  If it is the latter one, then by sending the same vibrations to others we can become their makers as well. If someone does so, he/she celebrates Raksha Bandhan in real spirit.