Celebrating Menstruating Goddess, This Kerala Temple Establishes Cultural Significance Of Periods In Modern World

Spread the love

Menstruation! It’s a word that has been shot with nails of stigma and misconceptions. For the longest time, periods have been considered a ‘taboo’ in India. While a large canopy of the country still seems to be immersed in the belief that period blood is ‘impure’, there is a Kerala temple which celebrates it! The Mahadeva Temple is located in Chengannur in the district of Alappuzha. Famous all over the world for celebrating the menstruation festival, the temple stands by the western bank of the holy river Pamba in a vast complex. With Goddess Parvati as the deity, the celebration of menstrual blood marks its own significance. It is especially notable in the Indian cultural context because for the longest time women have been banished from entering the temples while they are on their periods.

The Celebration

The celebration is known as “Thripputhu Aaraatt” and it attracts devotees from all over the world. During the festival, some people come down for its religious significance while some to observe this unique tradition. The festival is said to begin when the Goddess in the sanctum who is Parvati, starts to bleed. Once the menstrual cycle of the Goddess begins, the sanctums are shut for a period of three to five days. It is said that if a devotee prays during this time in all honesty, all his wishes can come true. The last day of the menstrual cycle which is usually believed to be the fourth day, the deity is taken to the river for the holy ablution with a great pomp and show. After the ceremonial observance at the river, the deity is then carried back on an elephant. At this point even the idol of Lord Shiva is brought together in the procession which is celebrated exuberantly.

Cultural Significance

Every time a girl bleeds, she is considered “impure” and in many cases even isolated. Apart from the fractional few, menstruating women even now have to go through a number of cultural subjugation and prejudice. One of the many restrictive taboos involves being outrightly denied entry in the places of worship even within the household. These prejudices take a major toll on the overall esteem of a girl by reinforcing the taboo that they suddenly become less human when on their periods. When such a socio-cultural life of a woman is so manifest in reality even today, a spin back to the age old tradition of celebrating menstruation of Goddesses plays a major role in combating regressive practises.

The flipside

It is an acknowledged fact that everything must be looked at from the critical lens for an evolved understanding. People flock in large numbers to the Mahadeva temple that celebrates and embraces womanhood but somehow fail to acknowledge the same respect for women in real lives. What is, however, practiced in many households is the ablution part where it is made ‘obligatory’ for them to take a head bath on the last day of their periods to make them ‘pure’ again. It echoes the ablution of Goddess Parvati in the Mahadeva Temple on the fourth day or the last of the believed menstrual cycle.

In conclusion

Even today, excluding maybe a fractional percentage, women are ostracized from participating in activities that are considered “sacred”. The restrictive practices not just makes a woman feel ‘not enough’ but it also rips apart her social confidence in unimaginable ways. While it is true that It is still a long way from disinfecting menstruation from all taboos, this ancient Indian culture of worshiping menstruating Goddess sure comes off as an example that periods, if anything, are not ‘unholy’ and equally deserve respect and acknowledgement.

Spread the love

We are taught to believe since childhood that women are born to be mothers. But the road to being pregnant and being a mother does not come very naturally and easily to every woman. And when you realize that you do not fit into the society’s concept of an ideal woman, what goes through your mind, is turmoil.

Seetal Savla is an Indian, born and brought up in the UK. She has a blog Savlafaire in which she reviews food and has exclusive restaurant reviews. It was all good till the realization struck after an unexpected pregnancy and miscarriage, that she really wanted to have babies. But there was a long tough journey ahead.

Since having babies naturally did not happen to Seetal and her husband, they decided to go through IVF. They have since had four cycles of failed IVF and they are now trying to use donor eggs for the next cycle. Each IVF try has its own struggle in terms of expense and also trying to keep a positive outlook.

In India, a lot of stigmas are attached to infertility -the constant questions on what is wrong, the look of judgement in people’s eyes, the weird superstitions and solutions that suggested to overcome the issue – leaving one with a feeling of being incomplete. In spite of living in a developed country, Seetal still had to go through all of this, maybe to a lesser extreme. Seetal decided to be more vocal about her experience so that other women who are going through don’t feel alone and know they can always be there for each other. She also strongly believes that to bring about a long-term change in the outlook of the society towards infertility and IVF, it is necessary to have sex education in schools and remove the taboo around menstruation. Cheers to Seetal @SavlaFaire for being so courageous and trying to make a change in the world!