As modern religions have developed and adapted over centuries of existence, Hinduism is still unable to let go of its ancient myths and is suffering from the Sabarimala issue in the process.
Period. That is where the issue should stop. A period is just a period, a menstruating woman’s natural bodily process of the reproductive cycle in which blood from the uterus exits. The actual cause of menstruation is ovulation following a missed chance of pregnancy that results in bleeding in preparation for the next cycle. If there had been no menstruation, there would have been no mankind. It is a pity then that men don’t see it that way; not even evolved and enlightened men of the 21stcentury have the ability to accept this.
The phenomenon has been surrounded by so many taboos and myths down the ages that clinging on to them seems easy. The ancient religions helped build these into cultural do’s and don’ts. And the bans from normal life were born of male attitude. There is no scientific basis whatsoever that menstruation is ‘impure’. And yet women have faced discrimination for four days every month for being just that – women.
Still from the film Padman
The original myth began in Vedic times and is pegged to Indra slaying Vritras and feeling guilty about it and the women are paying the monthly price or penance for it. It has complicated life in India so much that women’s lives have been scarred for millenniums. Eastern Orthodox Christianity also had rules about periods. Some of them exist till today; visiting churches to receive Holy Communion is forbidden in certain countries during periods.
The modern religions saw the light. Man’s enlightenment over centuries of existence may have been the reason. Buddhism differed from Hinduism vastly in this matter. A period was seen as a natural physical excretion that women have to go through on a monthly basis.” Visiting temples during the time is prohibited in certain branches of Buddhism, especially in Japan.
Muslim women are allowed to lead a normal life during their periods except go around the ‘Ka’ba, the holiest of holy sites of Islam. The Prophet himself ruled on this. They are also excused from prayers at this time. Yes, it is a ban from Mecca, but for four days a month in a menstruating woman’s life. Not for life. Sex is forbidden, but not intimacy. A woman may not touch the Quran at that time.
Sikhism believes in purity of mind and that purity of the body cannot guarantee it. The founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, is said to have condemned the practice of treating women as impure. She is allowed to pray every day of the month. Such a view is easily the most emancipated of all the major religions. The principle is accepted in Sikhism that the Mother’s blood is fundamental to life.
Some customs exist as in Tamil Nadu too where newly married couples are kept apart in the month of Aadi (July-August). But that may have been because sex in that month would mean the birth of a child in the hottest summer months of May or June. The modern environment has obviated the need for such restrictions. There are proportionately as many Geminis as there are Cancers in the world, and in India too.
The single argument against women between the ages of 10 and 50 visiting Sabarimala, the holiest of Lord Ayyappa’s shrines, is to do with menstruation. This shows how Hinduism is unable to let go of ancient myths while most modern religions have adapted. An Indian woman knows instinctively that she would not visit temples during periods. But to prohibit them from ever going to Sabarimala is an abomination perpetuated by patriarchy and supported by misogyny.
More telling than the Sabarimala ban is the mistreatment of women in tribal societies being forced to live apart in gaokors while undergoing the menstruation cycle. These primitive huts can scar girls psychologically for life and yet the Gonds and the Madiya ethnic groups follow this practice of isolation. Comforts are zero in the huts and the days are scary, leave alone the nights. And 23% of girls are said to drop out of schools when they start menstruating.
Shobhaa De
Field workers educating the tribals in outreach programmes on periods have noted that the only girls who don’t believe the superstitions about menstruation are the ones with educated mothers. The best way to teach girls to smash these myths is to keep them in school. Primary care physicians are an important link in this cycle of period myth busting. Scientists and planners are keener on clean methods of dealing with menstruation more than religion and prayers. It has been shown that the ill-educated using crude methods are the ones most at risk, including for cervical cancer.
But then who is to educate the masses in Kerala that Sabarimala is fine for women who themselves will keep away on those four days? How could you ban them for life even after the Supreme Court has ruled definitively on gender equality? It is a political conundrum that the very party and its ideological wing which supported the entry of women in the Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra after a court verdict are opposing women worshipping at Sabarimala.
