01/08/2018
In April 2016, a group of women led by Smt. Trupti Desai had entered the sanctum sanctorum of the Shani Shingnapur temple, breaking a 400 year old tradition preventing the entry of women. This act has been celebrated by the news channels and print media as the latest instance of establishing the so called “women-power” and breaking religious blasphemies. She had gone further to wage a war on other temples including too which follow similar practices. Her guts and courage had been praised high as anything, and after a few days, all noise eventually faded away. But then, no one bothered about the people of Shingnapur at all.
is a village that is around 300 km far away from Mumbai. It is known as “the village without doors”, where surprisingly, the crime rate is near to zero. There have been accounts of miracles where attempted robberies have been punished by the gods, and the common belief is that “Lord Shani” will protect them from all possible dangers. The dusty village has superstition and deep belief in the air they breathe and the water they drink. Post the incident, an eerie silence prevails over the village. Many are under shock, and many women have vowed not to go to the temple anymore. Unlike the visitors who visit once in a month, the temple is a part of their lives; part of their history, part of their present, and part of who they are. This woman, by walking into their village one fine day, thrashing things that they knew since they were children, and walking off to some other place, reminds me of the era of the Mughal invaders, who disregarded religion and forcefully established what they think were right. She has taken away the serenity in their lives and spat on their culture, just so that visitors like herself could establish her rights of equality.
Temples in Indian villages are not mere places of worships. They had been the heart of human settlement in that area, and have a very great influence over their lives. Many talk about temples prohibiting entry of women. But we have temples that prohibit the entry of men too. The Lord Brahma Temple at Pushkar, Rajasthan and the Bhagati Maa temple in Kanyakumari are two among them where men aren’t allowed. We have the Kanya Maa Bhagavati Temple in Kanyakumari where only women are allowed to do the puja, and the Mata Temple in Muzzafarnagar, Bihar where during a special period, only women are allowed into the temple; even the pujari is prevented. It is the kshetra sankalp according to which each temple is constructed that determines the particular pujas and rules of that temple. , which is home to Sabarimala, is the same land which houses the Attukal Pongala, which is the single largest union of women on the planet, and Chakkulathu Kavu Temple, which is famous for its annual Nari Puja. These so called feminists are so blinded by what they think is true, that they have stopped pursuing what is the real truth. And the funny point is that they call themselves progressive.
To take the case of Sabarimala temple, the kshetra sankalp in that temple is it is Lord Ayyappa’s holy abode where he is idolised in the form of Naishtika Brahmachari. He directs all his devotees to take up a 41 day penance and come visit him, where he will cleanse them of their sins. A naishtika brahmachari is a concept that is not prevalent in this era, so no one exactly knows what it exactly means. It is a strict penance where one has to discard all worldly pleasures, and submit himself in pursuit of knowledge. But he had granted a boon to the women who loves him that the day a mandala season comes to an end without even a single kanni swami (i.e. a first time visitor) coming to visit him, he will end his penance and marry her. The temple of Sabarimala dwells around this premise. The temple lays down hard conditions in the form of 41 days vrata and hardships, where people belonging to all religions may come visit him, by shedding their identities, pride, ego, and becoming “Ayyappans”, and thus embark on a symbolic penance in finding themselves and experiencing the fundamental principle of Hinduism, “thathvamasi”, that the god you seek is in you. For a temple that upholds such progressive principles, it is petty much insulting to put such an anti-women stand on its face. The temple bans menstruating women on this sole premise, that it is a brahmachari’s abode.
The next misconceptions are regarding and temple entry. Most of the societies, including my parents are of the belief that menstruating women are impure and that is the reason behind them being not allowed inside temples. Even I believed that to be the case. But then, once I started looking up on the issue, I was quite surprised of the outcome. One of the most authentic studies on the issue that I came across was carried on by “Mythri speaks” an organisation that works for women and child welfare. What they found through extensive research on Ancient Indian Science – which includes Ayurveda, Yoga, Meditation, Mantra and Astrology- is that during menstrual period, women tend to absorb other energies in their environment and any activity that interferes with this necessary downward flow of energy during menstruation should be avoided. The energy obtained during puja goes upwards, and this can bring discomfort to the body.
Another explanation is that a menstruating woman is so pure, that she is worshipped as a goddess. The reason for not having a woman go into a temple is precisely this : She is a living goddess at that time. The energy of the god or goddess which is there in the moorthi (idol) will move over to her, and the idol would become lifeless, while the menstruating women will become life. So it is exactly the opposite of what we think. (for more info : www.mythrispeaks.org ). Not only Hindu culture, but certain tribes in Africa believe that a menstruating woman is so powerful that if she walks around cultivations naked, all the pests would die. Some are even made to taste the first menstrual blood of a woman, believing it as to possess magical powers.
To all those women and men who call themselves as progressive and rubbishes all our traditions in the name of reason and whatsoever; remember it is this very set of reasons that set us apart from others, and without them, we are nothing at all. Just like magic is science that we don’t understand, traditions and rituals are practices that we don’t care to understand. And the right to life and freedom and other rights are not only granted to you, but also to the god fearing, orthodox people too.
Mythri Speaks works on issues, keeping in mind an exit plan. You will find that our work is deeply grounded in action learning and is unique in its deep & comprehensive understanding of issues. We define problem statements based on our extensive work on ground. We leave no stone unturned, and de...
