Tag Archives: menstruation

Menstruation in Hindu Temples

General Information about Item:

  • Bad Luck Superstition
  • Language: English/Hindi
  • Country of Origin: India
  • Informant: Aashika Jhawar
  • Date Collected: 11-5-2018
  • Interview was done over phone

Informant Data:

  • Aashika (Aashi) Jhawar is a 19 year old college student from Bellevue, WA. She was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and currently attends the University of California, Berkeley. She is second generation American and her family is from Northern India.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: In Hinduism, menstruating women are considered ritually impure and therefore are restricted from doing certain traditions. If a woman were to participate while menstruating, it would typically be deemed as an impure practice that would result in the opposite of the ritual’s intent. A formal ban was placed on Indian women in certain places of worship by the Kerala High Court in 1991 but was lifted in 2018 after numerous protests.
  • Social Context: Aashi learned this superstition from her mother, who describes this as one of many Indian traditions that is antiquated and routed in sexist ideals.

Item:

  • Menstruating Indian women (or anyone deemed “unclean”) cannot enter a place of worship or the ritual will not be successful or the gods will be angered.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript:

  • “Another bad omen/superstition in Indian culture is that it’s very bad luck and considered very disrespectful to enter a temple or even pray if you haven’t showered or if a woman is on her period, so for that reason if you are considered ‘unclean’ then you can’t enter into a place of worship.”

Informant’s Comments:

  • Aashi was well-informed on this superstition because the ban on menstruating women was recently lifted in India, which is a great stride for gender equality. Aashi didn’t know the specifics of what exactly will happen if a woman prayed/entered a temple while menstruating, but she knew that it would bring bad luck and that the ritual being conducted would not be successful or as effective.

Collector’s Comments:

  • I thought this superstition was interesting because it is highly reflective of traditional ideals within a culture. It seems like this superstition was formed from a societal bias against women in India, and practiced to encourage a gender divide. This superstition, paired with the fasting practice on Karva Chauth, indicates a trend of sexism in Indian culture that can be observed through these superstitions.

Collector’s Name: Derek Lue