Bharatpur (Rajasthan): As country celebrates 'Raksha Bandhan' the festival of brother-sister relation, many girls from Delhi not having brothers travel all the way to a temple in Rajasthan to tie the rakhi to Banke Bihari deity at the the temple.
10-year-old Aarohi Agarwal, a resident of Delhi, does not have a brother. In a special conversation with ETV Bharat, Aarohi said she reached Bharatpur from Delhi with her mother on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. She said that she considers Laddu Gopal Ji as her brother and came to the temple to tie a rakhi to Banke Bihari of Bharatpur. Aarohi said that she wants that just like a brother protects his sister, Shri Banke Bihari should protect her in the same way.
The priest of the temple, Manoj Bhardwaj, said that every time on the occasion of Rakshabandhan, many such sisters reach the temple and tie Rakhi to Shri Banke Bihari Ji. “These are those sisters who do not have any brother. It is believed that Shri Banke Bihari Ji protects such sisters by becoming their brother. Just like Lord Shri Krishna protected Draupadi by becoming her brother in Dwapar,” he said.
Unique Belief: Temple priest Manoj Bhardwaj said that there is a legend about Shri Banke Bihari of Bharatpur. It is said that Naga Baba Kalyangiri Chintamani used to regularly perform the parikrama of 84 'kos'. Once during the parikrama, the Naga Baba's Jata got entangled in the bushes during which Lord Krishna appeared in the form of a child and started untangling Baba's dreadlocks. According to the legend, after the incident, one day Naga Baba Kalyangiri was taking a bath in the Yamuna in Vrindavan when the idol of Shri Banke Bihari came and sat in his lap. Naga Baba took the idol in a bullock cart and left from there, but the wheel of the bullock cart stopped at the present temple site in the fort. Naga Baba installed Shri Banke Bihari at the same place and a temple was built here. Shri Banke Bihari is the favorite deity of the people of entire Bharatpur.
