Rakhiyaa bandhaawo bhaiyya
Posted on: August 10, 2014
This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
Time passes incessantly. And this relentless movement tends to become monotonous, if it were not for celebrations and festivals that punctuate the continuity of this passage. Time of the year again, for specific festivals and celebrations. A new enthusiasm and a new zest – to be doing new things differently.
Greetings to all friends and readers for the celebration of Rakshabandhan today. Also called as the festival of Raakhi. A celebration that honors the pious relationship between sister and brother, forever. The day when the sister wishes for the long life and happiness of her brothers, and the brothers renew their pledge to be by her side in times of distress. Whenever she needs help and protection in any form, her brothers will be there to help and to safeguard.
The main thing that is significant in this celebration is the thread that the sisters will tie around the wrist of the brother. This thread signifies blessings, auspiciousness, protection and good wishes. There are lovely emotions attached with this thread and with this celebration – emotions that make strong the family bonds.
The stories that tell of the origins of this celebration are many. And the interesting part is that as we go back into these stories, we come to know that this covenant is not confined to a brother – sister relationship. There are stories wherein this thread is tied by the shishyaa (student) on the wrist of his guru (teacher), and also by a lady on the wrist of her husband. In fact this promise can be extended between any two people, even friends. In our tradition, the celebration is premier for sisters and brothers.
Today is the seventh Rakshabandhan festival to be celebrated on this blog. Which means, we have been celebrating this festival with songs from Hindi films pertaining to this celebration. One of the oft celebrated festivals on screen, it is quite a regular part of family and social drama films, focusing on the family bonds involving brothers and sisters.
The song that I present today, goes all the way back to the first decade of the talking Hindi films. Created in 1936 for the film ‘Chhaaya’, the song is almost eight decades old making is probably the earliest available song from the Hindi films, celebrating this festival.
The one endearing thing about this song, is the mention of saawan in its lines. I tried to recall other Raakhi songs that also refer to the month of saawan, but am not able to off hand recollect any. Saawan is the onset of the monsoon season in India. And with the much needed showers of rain after a hot summer, this month also heralds the start of festivities, that have been kind of low key since the celebrations of Holi and Ram Nawami earlier in the year. The pace of celebrations will pick up from now on – it will soon be Krshn Janamashtami, followed by Vinayak Chaturthi, and then all the way to Diwali and Goverdhan Pooja. And then again there will be a slowdown in the celebrations.
The film ‘Chhaaya’ was originally made in Marathi under the banner of Hans Pictures, and then was re-made in Hindi. The adaptation of the Hindi version from the Marathi version, was done by Pt Indra Chandra. However, this song, as per the Geet Kosh, is based on the poetry of Chakbast, a famous Kashmiri poet and writer. The music is by Dhamman Khan and the singing voice is that of Ratnaprabha. The cast of actors for this film includes Ratnaprabha, Leela Chitnis, Master Vinayak, Baburao Pendharkar, Indira Wadkar, Hardikar, Vaishampaayan, Pt Indra, Anant Marathe etc. Since the name of the singer also appears in list of actors, it may be surmised that the song is also performed on screen by her.
Brij Narain ‘Chakbast’ belonged to family of Kashmiri Pandits that migrated to Faizabad (in the current state of Uttar Pradesh) a few generations earlier, in the 15th century. His father was also a man of letters, a poet and writer, while also being a Deputy Collector with the local government. Brij Narain was born in 1882. When he was five years old, his father passed away and the family moved to Lucknow. He completed his education in Lucknow and became a successful lawyer. He was equally at home with Hindi and Urdu, and his writings span both the languages. A very famous couplet by him celebrates the hospitality of the Kashmiri people, as follows,
zarra zarra hai mere Kashmir ka mehmaan nawaaz,
raah mein pathar ke tukdoon ne diya peene ko pani mujhe
And so, listen to this priceless gem from eight decades ago, and savor a veritable gem of a song. May this festival bring about increased cheer and bon homie within your families.
Enjoy.
Song-Rakhiya bandhaavo bhaiyya (Chhaaya)(1936) Singer-Ratnaprabha, Lyrics-Brij Narayan Chakbast, MD-Dhamman Khan
Lyrics
rakhiya bandhaavo bhaiya
rakhiya bandhaavo bhaiya
saawan aayaa re
rakhiya bandhaavo bhaiya
rakhiya bandhaavo bhaiya
saawan aayaa re
pooja saji thaali
mangal hariyaali
pooja saji thaali
mangal hariyaali
tori balaiyaan bhaiya
tori balaiyaan bhaiya
yug yug jeevo
rakhiya bandhaavo bhaiya
rakhiya bandhaavo bhaiya
saawan aayaa re
rakhiya bandhaavo bhaiya
rakhiya bandhaavo bhaiya
saawan aayaa re
saawan aayaa re
rakhiya bandhaavo bhaiya
saawan aayaa re
suraj chanda se
suraj chanda se
tum raam lachhman jaise
tum raam lachhman jaise
pyaare hamaare bhaiya
pyaare hamaare bhaiya
yug yug jeevo
rakhiya bandhaavo bhaiya
rakhiya bandhaavo bhaiya
saawan aayaa re
rakhiya bandhaavo bhaiya
saawan aayaa re
saawan aayaa re
—————————————
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
—————————————-
रखिया बंधावों भैय्या
रखिया बंधावों भैय्या
सावन आया रे
रखिया बंधावों भैय्या
रखिया बंधावों भैय्या
सावन आया रे
पूजा सजी थाली
मंगल हरियाली
पूजा सजी थाली
मंगल हरियाली
तोरी बलइय्याँ भैय्या
तोरी बलइय्याँ भैय्या
युग युग जीवो
रखिया बंधावों भैय्या
रखिया बंधावों भैय्या
सावन आया रे
रखिया बंधावों भैय्या
रखिया बंधावों भैय्या
सावन आया रे
सावन आया रे
रखिया बंधावों भैय्या
सावन आया रे
सूरज चन्दा से
सूरज चन्दा से
तुम राम लछमन जैसे
तुम राम लछमन जैसे
प्यारे हमारे भैय्या
प्यारे हमारे भैय्या
युग युग जीवो
रखिया बंधावों भैय्या
रखिया बंधावों भैय्या
सावन आया रे
रखिया बंधावों भैय्या
सावन आया रे
सावन आया रे
4 Responses to "Rakhiyaa bandhaawo bhaiyya"
August 10, 2014 at 11:25 am
Sudhirji,
Great find. Only in thirties they would called them rakhiya. Thanks
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August 10, 2014 at 10:44 pm
Happy Rakshabandhan to all brothers. May The Lord give you all happiness, joy and a healthy life.
Love
Khyati
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August 10, 2014 at 11:39 pm
And to all sisters too, Khyati Ben.
Wishing you the same – happiness and prosperity, good health and peace. It is great talking with you a little earlier today.
🙂
Rgds
Sudhir
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
August 10, 2014 at 7:55 am
Greetings and best wishes to all of ‘Rakshabandhan’ ..!
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