– With AAP
Millions of women in India formed a 620km human wall this week to send a powerful message about gender equality.
Earlier this week, two women sparked protests across the country’s south when they entered Hindu temple in the state of Kerala, defying a centuries-old ban on women entering.
India’s Supreme Court in September ordered the lifting of the ban on women or girls of menstruating age – 10 to 50 years old – from entering the Sabarimala temple, which draws millions of worshippers a year.
Wow. Over 5 million woman form a 620km (385-mile) human chain in #Kerala “in support of gender equality”. Beautiful. https://t.co/097lexbuge#WomenWallKerala #womenswall #solidarity pic.twitter.com/pVdiUxPgIF
— Mike Hudema (@MikeHudema) January 2, 2019
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I’m half Indian and we’re not able to
Participate in any rituals when we have our period. I even had to take medication to skip my period so I wouldn’t have it on my wedding day, otherwise I was told the wedding ceremony couldn’t take place. It’s a stupid archaic rule.
Hi Ss (and Mamamia),
I’ve been going back and forth on the Sabarimala issue for months now and trying to understand the ins and outs of the issue. Unfortunately, this article is a little bit half-baked. Yes, there are definitely a portion of society that belives that menstruation is “impure” and that’s a pity. In fact, the reason that women were told not to enter places of worship during their period is because the female body has hormonal changes during that time that make it more vulnerable. Places of worship, prayers and rituals are - according to vedic scriptures - quite intense and it’s belived that the vibrations from these chants have certain effects on the vulnerable female body at this time and hence it was advised that women not participate. Over time, this has morphed into believing that menstruation is impure (pity!!). The Sabarimala temple and it’s prayers are said to have negative impacts to the uterus and it’s strength and that’s why women between 10-50, usually a female’s fertile age, have traditionally been kept away. Similarly, there are Devi temples around India that ban men for similar reasons. Whether people choose to believe this or not is another issue however, as far as I know this is the reason.
Hope this helps! :)
That’s... not really a better reason though. Might be a more accurate portrayal of the rules, but the women’s reason for protest is still equally valid.