Philanthropist and Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murty was trolled by social media users for a post in which she attributed the origin of Raksha Bandhan to a legend related to Mughal emperor Humayun and Chittor’s Rani Karnavati.
In a video on X, Murty elaborated on the “rich history” of Raksha Bandhan and said that the “tradition” of the festival began after Rani Karnavati sent a “thread” to Humayun when she was in danger in the 16th century.
“Raksha Bandhan has a rich history. When Rani Karnavati was in danger, she sent a thread to King Humayun as a symbol of sibling-hood, asking for his help. This is where the tradition of the thread began and it continues to this day,” Murty captioned her post featuring the video.
“Raksha Bandhan or Rakhi is one of the important festivals according to me where a sister ties a thread, it need not be a huge one, a thread is fine, indicating that in case of my difficulty, you should always be there to help me. Siblings are so important in life. It goes back, Rani Karnavati was in danger. Her kingdom was small. It was attacked by somebody else. She did not know what to do. She sent a small piece of thread to King Humayun, a Mughal emperor, saying that I am in danger. Please consider me as your sister, and please do come and protect me. Humayun did not know what it is because he came from different country,” Murty said in the video.
“He asked what this is. The local people said that this is a call of a sister to a brother, an SOS kind, and it is a custom of the land. He said okay, if that is the case, I am going to go and help Rani Karnavati. He left Delhi, and he came to her kingdom, but he was a little late. In those days, there was no aeroplane. He came by horse. She was no more. But this idea of when you are in distress, send a thread, indicating somebody should come and help me, means a lot. And even today, particularly in Northern India, this is a custom that a sister will travel any distance to tie the Rakhi or Raksha Bandhan and the brother will give her something which he will hold in his hand,” she added.
Watch the video here:
In the comments section, several users lashed out at Murty saying that the story she narrated is nothing but “fake”.
“You should read history 20 hours a day,” a user said. Several others trashed her story as “absolute rubbish!”
Another comment reads, “Stop propagating falsehood!”
Calling the story a “lie”, one of the users said, “I thought you loved to read but you read fiction probably.”
One of the users also shared the Raksha Bandhan legend based on Lord Krishna and Draupadi: “The origins of Raksha Bandhan are rooted in ancient Indian history and culture, with various stories from sacred texts illustrating the significance of this sacred festival. One of the most revered legends comes from the Mahabharata, where Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas, tore a strip of her saree to bandage Lord Krishna’s bleeding wrist. Deeply moved by her gesture, Krishna vowed to protect Draupadi in times of distress. This bond of protection is often cited as the essence of Raksha Bandhan, where the Rakhi symbolises a pledge of mutual care and support.”
There are several myths surrounding Raksha Bandhan, which celebrates the bond between a brother and a sister. The Lord Krishna- Draupadi legend is one of the most popular ones and as for the Rani Karnavati-Humayun legend, Indian historian Satish Chandra said in his book ‘Medieval India’ that a 17th century Rajasthani book stated that Humayun received a bracelet as a rakhi from Rani Karnavati, the widow of the king of Chittor.
“As for his rakhi, Chandra reiterates, ‘Since none of the contemporary sources mention this, little credit can be given to this story’,” an article published in DailyO states.
