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In pictures: Celebrating Raksha Bandhan

We bring you glimpses of Raksha Bandhan celebrations from across the country.

Siblings are known to squabble often, but this is the one day in the year when, at least in India, brothers and sisters go all out to show what they really mean to one another.

From the simplest household celebrations to extravagant gifts and travelling halfway across the world to be with one another on Raksha Bandhan, all gestures demonstrate mutual love and affection and reveal the true togetherness of family.

To mark the occasion, we bring you a few candid snapshots that capture the spirit of the occasion.

Here, head honcho of the Congress and India's first family Sonia Gandhi celebrates the Raksha Bandhan festival with school children at her residence in New Delhi.

A novel way to protest tobacco

Schoolgirls in Mumbai tie a rakhi to a tobacco seller as part of their drive to discourage the sale of tobacco products.

Honouring military men

Young local women tie rakhis onto the wrist of an Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldier at the India-Pakistan joint check post at the Wagah border on the outskirts of Amritsar.

Last-minute shopping

Ladies throng rakhi stalls in Mumbai to get in some last-minute shopping.

United in prayer

In Ahmedabad, brahmins wearing the sacred thread of the Hindus perform prayers to mark the occasion.

New novelties

In recent times extravagant gold, diamond and crystal rakhis for men and jewellery lines for women have become fairly popular.

Available in the market this year are these precious 18-carat rakhis, with themes ranging from the playful to the religious, like the ones you see here; on the right is a Raksha Bandhan line of silver jewellery to gift dutiful sisters.

Driving a hard bargain

And finally, we have this snapshot, also from Mumbai, of a housewife haggling over the rakhi prices with a vendor -- our ladies can never resist bargaining!