Devdutt Pattanaik Column: Scanners for menstrual blood

If you want to project the temple of Ayyappa at Sabarimala in Kerala and Hinduism as general as an indicator of communal harmony you can point to the dargah of Vavarswami that is an integral part of the pilgrimage to the mountain shrine If you want to project the temple and the religion as a manifestation of patriarchy you have to point to the practice of not letting menstruating women be part of the pilgrimage Only men allowed in this temple mdash men who have spent at least 40 days in celibacy and thus lsquopurifiedrsquo Someone recently mentioned need for scanners to filter out women in their periods creating the usual media outrageIllustrationDevdutt PattanaikBut these shrines were not built either for communal harmony or to oppress women These were practices that emerged slowly over centuries often resonating various ritual beliefs prevalent in society These beliefs are based on a variety of mythic nonrational frameworks The practice of restricting access to menstruating women is rooted in the premodern belief that links purity and power to bodily fluids Not spilling male genital fluid semen makes men powerful and pure Inability to hold back female genital fluid menstruation makes women weak and impure This is why many babas and gurus of India insist they are celibate That is why Jain munis rejected family life This is why Buddharsquos enlightenment is closely linked to his rejection of his wife The redtilak of Hindu men and the redbindi of Hindu women has close links to blood and its links to life Menstrual blood is particularly feared as it came to be associated with lsquodeathrsquo as it marked the failure of conceptionThese ideas are ancient orally transmitted and are made explicit only in later Tantrik texts though one is never sure if these texts should be taken literally or metaphoricallyWhile it is fashionable among selfhating uppercaste Hindus to mock Hindu practices we must remind ourselves that occult beliefs related to bodily fluids are not restricted to Hinduism Celibacy and menstrual taboos are found in tribal communities In Japan sushi is traditionally made only by male cooks as lsquomenstrual cycle impacts female taste budsrsquoIt is found in Islam also The story goes that the Prophet told his menstruating wife Aisha that during her periods she could not go around the Kabah during the Hajj During periods women were not allowed to touch the Quran Can we attribute the Sabarimala practice to Hindu or Islamic taboos of menstruation considering the Vavarswami influence Or to its Buddhist roots Buddhist monasteries had more rules for womenQuestions such as these are bound to create social media excitement An anthropologist can argue that Jesus was born of a lsquovirginrsquo mother and never took a wife because of these occult beliefs in bodily fluidsResult of attempts to explain or criticise premodern practices using modern filters like caste class religion and gender is always problematic It fuels outrage but does not contribute to understanding For example at Kottankulangara Sridevi Temple in Chavara in Kerala men cross dress for the presiding goddess during the Chamayavilakku festival Here you can see wives and daughters accompanying their crossdressing husbands and fathers into the temple Can we read this as rituals created to promote gender harmony Or can we read this as an attempt to subvert the gender hierarchy of traditional Hindu society Ask those who practice the ritual and they will simply say it is an expression of devotion Such simple answers do not get us doctoral degree in European or American Universities or academic respect We want the truth to be sinister or titillatingIn Hinduism as in most religions there are rituals restricted to men and women Men perform funeral rites shraadh and women perform fertility rituals haldikumkum As always when understanding changes rituals also change despite fierce resistance Nowadays in many parts of India women also perform funeral rituals It is only time before men perform haldikumkum Will that be a better less oppressive society I am not sure As long as the rational feel justified in mocking rather than understanding the irrational oppression will continueThe author writes and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times Reach him at devduttdevduttcom The views expressed in these columns are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper