The holy festival of Raksha Bandhan is celebrated with immense pomp and galore across the world by the Hindus and Jains. The most significant ceremony that marks the occasion is the chaste relationship shared between a brother and sister. By tying a sacred thread called Rakhi, sisters express their love and affection towards their brothers, who, in turn, pledge to protect them through their good and bad. However, before tying the Rakhi, an aarti is performed using the Rakhi thali, which includes a number of basic puja items decorated beautifully. These are a diya, roli, rice, sweets and Rakhi. These thalis are decked with wonderfully, thus conveying a sister's respect and honor for her brother. Though the Rakhi thalis comprise of these basis elements, but they can further be ornamented in numerous ways. Given here are some creative ideas for decorating a Rakhi thali.
Traditional Thali
Of all the different ways to decorate a puja thali for Raksha Bandhan, the traditional thali containing the roli and turmeric is the most basic type. Pick up a bras or silver or silver plated thali as they are regarded as highly auspicious. Blend some roli with turmeric powder until you get a thin paste of red and yellow combination. Coat the thali with this roli-turmeric paste and allow it to dry. Use tiny containers to keep roli, rice and water in the thali. Also, add on a diya and incense stick stand. Finally, complete the traditional thali with flowers and rakhi. You can keep the sweets in the same thali or accompany in a separate plate.
Floral Thali
Gather the basic items for performing the puja, like diya, roli, rice, sweets and rakhi. Pick up fresh colorful flowers and place them in a thali, preferably brose or stainless steel. Depending upon your choice, you can cover the entire thali with flowers or just line the brim of the thali. For a more sophisticated look, use flowers in single color. Pluck the petals of the flowers and use them to deck up the thali rather than using whole flowers. Once you are done with decorating the thali with flowers, place the elements of the puja in the thali.
Sandalwood Thali
Prepare some sandalwood paste by mixing the powder with enough water to make a thin consistency. Pour the paste onto a thali and spread it out evenly covering the thali completely. Allow the paste to dry. Thereafter, create a swastika design in the center of the thali. Use rose petals, beads and tassels to decorate the thali. Once you are done with the decoration part, place in the puja essentials, like diya, roli, rakhi, incense stick stand and sweets to complete the thali.
Dry Fruits Thali
You can use different dry fruits, like almonds, cashews, raisins, chestnuts, pistachios and cocoa nuts to decorate your rakhi puja thali. For best results, use a stainless steel thali. Create circles in the thali using one kind of dry fruit at a time. This will give your thali a festive yet pretty look. Creating a base of dry fruits in the thali is another great idea. Place the puja items in the circles made by the dry fruits.
Choco-Toffee Thali
Let your brother drool over the sweets placed in the puja thali on this Raksha Bandhan. As a unique idea, pick up a bag of your brother's favorite chocolates and toffees. Divide the entire space in the thali into segments creating lines with chocolates and toffees. In each of the segments so created, place one puja item. Though this would give the puja thali a different look from the traditional ones, yet it will infuse in the right amount of festivity essential for the occasion.