Festivity is all around the city, and when I strolled through the market to smell fervour of the Raksha Bandhan, I was amazed by the varieties of Rakhi in market.

Earlier, Rakhi was a mere Resham Ki Dori, with a knot of love and remembrance. But now rakhi is also getting hip, with the current fashion and status.

When every gadget is getting Chinese touch, then how come our sweet Resham Ki Dori could miss the touch. Market is also enthralled with number of varieties.

My colleague Sayeed Ahmed has already shared the stories of Rakhi and significance of celebrations.

And today we are writing about the evolution of rakhi. A silk thread (resham ki dori), which timely evolved into a Shin Chan. The changing trends are recorded here and what the market has for you this time.

This season resham rakhi is almost out of the market. People neither demand for it nor  the retailers have the stock. Here we are covering the five latest types of rakhis:

• Cartoon Shaped Rakhi
• Diamond Rakhi
• Metal Rakhi
• New Trendy Lachhas
• The Complete Thali (plate) set.

Cartoon Shaped Rakhi:

You name any cartoon character and you will get it in its rakhi form. Right from Chota Bhim to Spiderman, Mickey mouse to Tweety and Harry Potter to Pikachu you will find all your favorite cartoon characters in the market. Be it in plastic or rubber form. And since the demand from kids is increasing the cost is also high. You may find them in the range from Rs 15-35 per piece.

Diamond Rakhi:

This season diamond rakhi is in rising trend. Every sister would love to decorate her brother’s wrist with best rakhi. And a rakhi giving a look of a diamond bracelet can be the best option. Despite none of the diamond is real, the more the number of diamonds the more is the cost. You can find their range from Rs 12-48 per piece.

Metal Rakhi:

The same is the concept again (best rakhi on the wrist). Rakhis looking like artifacts and the one sold by the name silver rakhi (containing no silver) cost the highest in this range. People don’t seem to be attracted by these rakhis reason being the cost. Range lies in Rs 25-70 per piece.

Trendy lachhas:

Laccha, a thread consisting of various types of pearls and artificial gems, are in approaching fashion this time. Laccha having “Rudraksh” is most in demand due to its exaggerated advertisement on television and also cause they come within the range. Cost ranges from Rs 5-10 per piece.

The thali (plate) set:

A set consisting of thali (plate) which was well decorated by laces and items like kanku, chaval (Rice), and rakhi were kept in it. These sets are also available in the market. They became attraction for some and were costlier for some as they cost Rs. 101 per set.

Except for Vishal Mega Mart none of the super markets or mall of Udaipur is selling rakhis. But the local vendors are not afraid of this competition at all. They feel no change in their sells due to their super market competitor.