For centuries, women have been governed by various religious laws preventing them from entering places of worship. In India, various Hindu texts oppose the presence of women in temples during the time of their menses because menstruating women are considered impure, and their entry would compromise the sanctity of the shrine.
Recently, the Sabarimala temple was in the limelight when the Supreme Court upheld the age-old rule and allowed women to enter the temple. But the case of gender bias conducted in the public places of worship does not get resolved by just allowing women to enter a shrine. There still exists an orthodox practice of having separate norms for menstruating women which further gives rise to the wide gap between the number of male and female priests around the country.
The problem can be traced back to the introduction of the Brahmanical patriarchy, which laid down the basis of inequality. The projection of female sexuality and giving women control over their bodies was seen as something illicit and dishonourable to the Hindu religion.
Scholars also argue that this inferior position of women can be linked to menarche and the fear of impurity that comes with it. Because of this fear, women were treated as an outcast, and hence their social position was questioned.
In a famous folklore, goddess Lakshmi who was experiencing her menses goes to a Brahmin’s house seeking refuge. Still, that Brahmin, afraid of her polluting their home, refuses to accept the goddess since she was considered to be impure at that moment. Hence, even the goddess wasn’t spared the charge of impurity.
Let’s consider the case of the Kamakhya Temple, located on the Nilachal Hill in the western part of Guwahati in Assam. The temple stands out in its quest to preach the bleeding goddess Shakti and the power of women to give birth to a new life. The most astonishing part of the temple is its architecture. It is adorned with various stone imbibed sculptures depicting multiple phases of menarche as well as motherhood. Some of the sculptures are particularly reddened to signify the blood during menstruation.
But surprisingly, during the Ambubachi mela that is held annually in the month of ‘Aashad‘, the statue of the goddess Kamakhya, who is supposed to be bleeding, is transferred to an inner sanctum and the temple is closed for the visit. Much like the ordinary women, goddesses are also not barred for these patriarchal restrictions, which makes us question whether these rituals are propagatory and a means to sway away menstruation from being considered a natural and common phenomenon. Even more so, the irony is that menstruating women cannot enter the temple and offer prayers.
Further, the Chengannur Mahadeva Kshetram in Alappuzha district of Kerala has a similar practise of shifting goddess Parvati‘s idol into a small room every month for four days when the goddess is believed to be experiencing her menses.
The level of hypocrisy makes us wonder whether perhaps, the celebration of womanhood by the temple is just an act of preaching female sexuality till the point it satisfies the outdated patriarchal norms of the society.
Despite many categorical changes in a woman’s position in society, some places in India still hold a myriad of taboos against women and often relegate myths and taboos against menstruating women.
Hence the question that we should be asking is how women are supposed to be treated fairly when the goddesses that we pray and look up to are also subjected to the same amount of oppression.
The author is a part of the current batch of the #PeriodParGyan Writer’s Training Program