Yes, a lot of you might be thinking, what a man has got the business to write on such a sensitive & bold topic? I'm writing, because - I'm a living element of this society & because I feel responsible for reviving what has been lost. I write with the learning and the realization that none of these practices were originally meant to suppress women, but now they are playing like one! I felt the need to pen down something..
Menstruation… Periods and the life of a Woman. India is a country of religion, a home to some of the widest variety of cultures, all surviving together. It is a country where cricket players and film actors are worshiped as god while a woman, in her Periods is looked upon as dirt and not allowed to step into any holy premises. For ages, this belief and Rule has been blindly followed by women of the earlier generation, including some of our moms. Girls, do you remember, your mother telling you to stay confined in your room, not going out much, not entering the kitchen area and CERTAINLY not entering the temple during Periods? And I always had this question in my mind, Why they can't go to temples, cook or live a regular life, during periods? Why can't they treated normally and not like filth during periods? For a curious guy, this was a million dollar question. And this question certainly deserves an answer, WHY??? When I got to know the whole drama, I was stunned & I doubted our existence in the 21st century; it is a ridiculous concept! Actually I really feel pity & anger, when I still get to hear these kinds of anecdotes. I thought, I must do something in this matter, whatever little I could! Hence a try..
What could be the simplest answer for this? Perhaps, the most common notion of all is that menstrual blood is impure and that it makes women impure. Interestingly, in some Indian cultures, the menstrual blood itself is revered and thought of as having potent power. I also read, about elderly women in Manipur who told that they had tasted a drop of their first menstrual blood, as part of a traditional practice. This blood was considered to be very powerful and believed to keep them in good health when consumed. Really??
A fascinating mythological story:
According to Bhagavatha Purana, Indra had once disrespected Brihaspathi who was the Guru of all the devas. As a result of this sin, the asuras (demons) easily conquered the heavens and Indra lost his kingdom and glory. When he took refuge in Brahma, the latter insisted Indra to consider serving a young lad who is a Brahma-Gyani as his guru until Brihaspathi is pleased. However, the lad had maternal affection for the demon clan as his mother was also a demon.
Indra does ‘Brahma-hatya’:
The boy use to give yagna-havis (offering during havan which is consumed by the devas) to the demons too. Seeing this, Indra killed the young boy in a fit of rage. As the boy was in the position of a guru, Indra had invited upon himself the heinous of all sins, brahma-hatya-pathaka (killing a guru). The sin took the shape of a ferocious female demon that followed and haunted Indra wherever he ran. Finally, Indra hid himself within a flower.
Indra thought of distributing his sin:
Indra remained inside the closed flower for one lakh years and performed penance to please Lord Vishnu. With Vishnu’s grace, Indra was freed from the trouble of the demons but he was not cleansed from the sin of brahma-hatya. To get rid of this sin and earn his kingdom back he requested the presiding deities of water, trees, earth and women to take a quarter of the sin. In turn he promised that he would grant boons to all of them. This was agreed upon.
Bane and boon given to the Tree
The presiding deity of all the trees accepted a quarter portion of the sin. The tree sap which oozes out of the tree bark is the form of brahma-hatya and is considered as impure. For bearing this sin, Indra granted a boon to all the trees that they can regenerate and re-grow as long as they are not uprooted.
Bane and boon given to Water
Varuna took a quarter of the sin too. The froth or foam that gets developed on water is considered as impure as it represents the brahma-hatya. When a Hindu performs achamana, if the water has foam on it, it is dropped down. Indra granted purity to water as a boon for accepting the sin. It is said that it is because of this boon that water has got so much of importance in Hindu rituals. It purifies everything.
Bane and boon given to the Earth
Bhoo devi took another quarter of the sin. As a result earth lost its state of complete fertility and barren lands denoted brahma-hatya. The boon given to earth was the ability to refill its cavities over a period of time.
Bane and boon given to Women
Women living in that aeon have accepted the last quarter. As a result they and their progeny had to experience the menstrual cycle once in a month which denotes brahma-hatya. As a boon, women were granted more pleasure in sex than men. According to Hinduism, God cannot be seen or realized without a Guru. Menstrual cycle denotes the sin of killing a guru. So women are forbidden to see God or indulge in divine acts during that period for its sign of impurity.
Every religion has put restrictions on women:
If you thought that Hinduism is the only Religion in the world where women with Menstruation are restricted from entering temples or taking part in holy tasks, then you are on the wrong train.
Christianity: Women were forced into a separate menstrual hut during their periods and were not allowed to come out of it. According to a British Medical Journal published in 1878, it was believed that Menstruating women could actually cause Bacon to decompose. Women were prevented from cooking, churning butter, baking bread and from praying in the church.
Islam: The Holy Quran forbids women from having intercourse during menstruation and also from fasting. They cannot enter the Mosque nor recite the Quran.
Sikhism: Standing against all these religions, Guru Nanak strictly condemned this practice of treating women as impure during their menstruation and allowed them to pray and do their religious duties without any restrictions.
Hinduism: Women are restricted entry into kitchen, into the temple and are confined into their room during the menstrual days. They have separate sleeping beds, different clothes and different utensils for eating. Excuse me! But in Hinduism womb is considered sacred. Do you know that the reason why women do not prostrate themselves by laying flat on the floor like the men, but kneel and bow instead, is because the scriptures state that it is offensive to lay the womb on the floor because it is “the cradle of humanity,” in each and every woman. So our wombs are considered so sacred that the Gods themselves find it offensive if you lay your womb on the floor to worship them. Then how can Gods really discriminate?
The Science Behind This Ancient Belief:
As for the records, there is no reason why women were treated so differently during the menstruation days in the ancient times. However, when we try logic-ing the question, the only possible answer that comes across our minds is the role of a woman and her hard tasks. During the previous generations, women had to perform several physical tasks such as grinding wheat, carrying heavy pots, farming, cooking food and also cleaning the house. But, during their menstruation, they suffered a lot of discomfort, cramps, excessive blood flow, depression, mood swings and also anger which took a toll on their health, physically and mentally. And the only way to make women rest and stop them from doing their duties was by imposing a taboo on Menstruation. This gave complete rest to women during the menstrual days, thus helping them recover well from their menstruation.
The menstruating Goddess of Hindus:
Have you heard of the goddess who menstruates? Only 8 km from Guwahati railway station is located the most famous temple of Assam, the Kamakhya temple, dedicated to Goddess Sati, an incarnation of Durga. According to ancient Indian scriptures, one of the 51 ‘Peethas’ or holy spots, Kamakhya temple is also known as ‘Yoni–Peetha’. Every year, Kamakhya temple observes a unique festival called ‘Ambubachi’ when, it is believed, the goddess menstruates. The festival draws a large number of pilgrims to the Kamakhya_Temple
Kamakhya Temple: Story of the bleeding Devi
The temple of Kamakhya has a very interesting story of its origin. The story of the Shakti Peeths goes like this; once Sati fought with her husband Shiva to attend her father's great yagna. At the grand yagna, Sati's father Daksha insulted her husband. Sati was angered and in her shame, she jumped into the fire and killed herself. When Shiva came to know that his beloved wife had committed suicide, he went insane with rage. He placed Sati's dead body on his shoulders and did the Tandav or dance of destruction. To calm him down, Lord Vishnu cut the dead body with his chakra. The 108 places where Sati's body parts fell are called Shakti Peeths. Kamakhya temple is special because Sati's womb and vagina fell here.
Kamakhya devi is famous as the bleeding goddess. The mythical womb and vagina of Shakti are supposedly installed in the 'Garvagriha' or sanctum of the temple. In the month of Ashaad (June), the goddess bleeds or menstruates. At this time, the Brahmaputra river near Kamakhya turns red. The temple then remains closed for 3 days and holy water is distributed among the devotees of Kamakhya devi. Closing the temple for 3 days and then celebrating the end of her menstruation. In this temple, the menstrual cloth is considered highly auspicious and is distributed among devotees. The idea of resting and not disturbing menstruating women, including a Goddess, does not arise from any superstitious belief. It is because of the thought that menstruation and the release of energy during this time should not be interrupted in any way. It is a natural cleansing process which helps women remain healthy, and should not be affected by external influences. If these menstrual rituals were meant to suppress women, surely we would not be doing the same with the Goddess.
But if you think, there's no real logic behind these customs. Many people who believe in supremacy of God don't even think that how a God can become unclean or polluted by a touch of menstruating women. Does this mean that a women in her periods has more power than their all powerful God? Why god should fear a menstruating woman? Womanhood is a gift from nature to females and they should cherish it and feel proud about it, shame or guilt should not be associated with any gender. Unless women themselves start questioning these type of beliefs we can't bring that change.
Yes, it’s time to take a stand! I understand very well that many times it's not fair judging past societies with current social values and knowledge but this practice of seclusion of women in this way due to some biological processes associated with their gender should stop. We all should know that this is totally wrong and it is our duty to stop it. Let's show some courage to eradicate this practice, let's confront these things wherever we see them and let’s start this from our own homes.
A symbol of a woman's creativity:
There is no scientific proof that the blood actually turns the river red. Some people say that the priests pour vermilion into the waters. But symbolically, menstruation is the symbol of a woman's creativity and power to give birth. So, the deity and temple of Kamakhya celebrates this 'shakti' or power within every woman. What do you think about these religious ways in which a woman is observed during her menstrual cycle? Hasn’t someone overreacted in history?
I understand very well that many times it's not fair judging past societies with current social values and knowledge. Here I am not trying to do this, rather I am questioning beliefs of present societies which are based on past social or religious values. Because of these types of beliefs and superstitions situation of women in our society are suppressed. They are treated as inferiors or like a burden in many societies from the moment the fetus is known to be a female. I think time has come to get rid of all these types of customs and rituals. We have come very far from those medieval times. As far as I am concerned I don't care what any religion or scripture says about this topic, if I see this type of prejudice and discrimination I voice my opinion strongly against it, I question it. I know it may not change anything but I do it anyways. Unless women themselves start questioning these type of beliefs we can't bring that change. I hope that more and more women will start doing it. I am sure we all can create prejudice-free environment with our efforts and I am very optimistic about it.
To everyone - Happy Women's day, let every woman to be proud of herself!
Do share your views in the comments below… Thank you!
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