This is not strictly a religious festival and celebrates an incident in history rather than mythology. The festival celebrates the love between brother and sister and a thread tied on the hand of the brother by the sister is symbolic of the ties that bind them. The thread, which is tied is called Rakhee and is symbolic of the love of the sister for her brother and also wards off evil influences from the brother's life. The brother, bound by her love offers to protect her for all times to come.
According to a popular historical story, the queen of Mewar, Maharani Karmavati, had to fight Governor Bahadur Shah who had surrounded her kingdom. Seeing the futility of her situation she appealed to the Mughal king, Humayun for help and send him a Rakhee. The Muslim emperor was moved by this gesture and as he was bound by the significance of the thread and had to protect her decided to help her. Humayun reached Mewar when the queen was preparing for self- immolation. He fought Bahadur Shah and his men and restored the kingdom back to his "Rakhee sister", the queen of Mewar.
On the day of the festival sisters tie a rakhee around their brothers' wrists, and brothers give gifts in return and promise to protect them from all evils. Siblings often travel great distances, if required, for the rakhee ceremony to take place. The rakhee is a powerful symbol of sisterly affection and even if a woman ties a rakhee on a man unrelated to her by blood, it is enough to establish the bond between them.

Where: North India.