During the annual Ambubachi mela, the Kamakhya temple in Guwahati, Assam, closes its doors for three days, in celebration of Goddess Kamakhya’s menstruation. Imagine that. In a nation where actor Salman Khan likens his job to a woman getting raped (as if he, or I, could ever know what that is like, in all its dimensions), or a nation where temples do not allow women if they’re at that time of their cycle — there is a land where shakti worship means recognising the fact that a woman, a goddess even, has a monthly biological event interlinked with fertility (the mela happens around summer solistice, near the onset of the Southwest monsoon). Pilgrims throng to this historic temple during her periods — it’s a sort of Northeast kumbh. No wonder then, that in Guwahati women walk fearlessly, their body language reflecting a confidence that only adds to their already brimming beauty. Why can’t the rest of India learn from this paradise?

Thousands of devotees gather at Kamakhya temple in Guwahati during the Ambubachi mela last week. Pic/PTI