The newly-appointed chief of the Travancore Devaswom Board, Prayar Gopalakrishnan, wants to body-scan women before they enter the Sabarimala Temple to be sure that they are not menstruating. He said: “A time will come when people will ask if all women should be disallowed from entering the temple throughout the year.
These days there are machines that can scan bodies and check for weapons. There will be a day when a machine is invented to scan if it is the ‘right time’ (not menstruating) for a woman to enter the temple. When that machine is invented, we will talk about letting women inside.”
Gopalakrishnan’s words have sparked off a bloody response on social media, spearheaded by a young woman all the way from Punjab — Nikita Azad. And while her campaign ‘happy to bleed’ plays on, we ask why religion continues to abet the alienation of women during menstruation.
‘Educate the man’ - Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri, Indologist
Can a God be unhappy if a devotee visits him? What if a menstruating woman bumps into Him on the road? Does she not get darshan? It is hypocritical to blame a woman for a biological phenomenon. At the very centre of this relentless shaming is the patriarchal distortion of scriptures that laid down social restrictions for the menstruating woman – only to protect her. Shastra told the woman not to wear good clothes, or kajal, during those three days.
But why? The more unattractive a woman makes herself, the safer she is from the lustful gaze of her husband. What woman would like intercourse to be forced on her during her periods? Tradition also forbade women from entering the kitchen, or undertaking any physical work under that garb of ‘impurity’. But why? The less she exerts herself, the more rest she gets during menstruation. These rules were more to do with Ayurveda.
Unfortunately, over the years, these social rules have been distorted under Brahminical pressure, leaving the woman to deal forever with the ‘impurity’ tag. How do we change this? I say, educate the man, re-interpret shastra and change society. Women have come out and will continue to do so. It is her time.
‘A cunning strategy to subjugate the woman’ - Abhijit Mitra, Sociologist
There is nothing impure about a woman menstruating. In fact, the question of purity does not arise at all. If so, then must we not ask whether the whole process of childbirth is pure or impure? This feeling of impurity has been imposed on women, limiting the scope of her movement, even to the temple. This is nothing but a cunning strategy to subjugate women. Menstruation is an unavoidable physical process. Women bleed every month. Also, a woman cannot touch a God during these days, not only public deities, but even those in the very private corners of their homes. Barricades are even put up inside a household.
But why is menstruation looked down upon? A man is told not to have sex with a menstruating woman. It is clear today that there is no scientific basis to this social practice.
But a girl is indoctrinated in such a manner that she herself withdraws. And here lies the irony. Women have become significant agents of patriarchy. In the privacy of homes, men in the family don’t tell tell her what to do and what not to. Why does the woman allow herself to be ruled? Why does she give someone else the control over her body? Yes, there will be change – through education and an all-empowering movement, by women.
In Islam, no ‘spiritual impurity’ - Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, Islamic scholar
In Islam, menstruation is not regarded as something that makes a woman inferior to man. Many misunderstandings occur because of misogynist patriarchal interpretations of Islam that go against its egalitarian spirit. According to Islamic jurisprudence, menstruation is categorised as a state of ‘ritual impurity’ and not as a state of ‘spiritual impurity’. The rationale behind the prohibition on praying or fasting for menstruating women is an Islamic jurisprudential ruling, ‘Daful Haraj’ meaning ‘lessening of the difficulty’ or ‘avoidance of inconvenience’.
This means that a menstruating woman is not required to perform certain obligatory acts of worship, such as Namaaz and Roza, for her own convenience. This is because women suffering from menstrual cramps are not in a fit condition to perform acts of worship that require a certain amount of physical exertion.
Even if women were given the option to pray or fast during their menstrual periods, this would unnecessarily cause feelings of guilt in those who are not able to fulfill their religious duties in such a condition. Islam seeks to completely free women from the burden of religious responsibilities during such a situation. However, menstruating women are not barred from visiting dargahs or masjids according to Islamic precepts.
'Understand tradition before criticising it' -- Rahul Easwar, Grandson of senior Tantri Kandararu Maheswararu
Sabarimala senior official Prayar Gopalakrishnan’s comments are an unfortunate articulation. The emotion behind the ‘happy to bleed’ campaign is understandable but the campaigners must first attempt to understand the tradition before criticising it.
It is great to know that our youngsters like Nikita Azad are coming forward and speaking out against taboos and voicing their concerns, and I applaud it. However, Sabarimala’s history, which can be rounded off as something that spans 5000 years, has denied women the right to enter the temple only to honour the fact that the God who resides at Sabarimala is a celibate. There is no conspiracy against women at the temple and neither is there any idea of ‘periods’ being considered ‘impure.’ Women below the age of ten and above the age of 50 have always been permitted within the temple premise. Even the name of the temple, ‘Sabari’, comes from the name of a scheduled caste woman devotee of Sree Rama. Malikapurathamma is a female deity who is worshipped at Sabarimala. It is unfortunate that a senior priest made such an unfortunately articulated comment.
The denial of women that does exist in the temple isn’t discrimination. Attukal Temple, which is referred to as Women’s Sabarimal, organises Pongala every year and men are not allowed to participate in this festival. You don’t see men protesting against it, calling it discrimination. What exists is a differentiation and not discrimination. The two are very different concepts.
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