the black bored

Hinduism has over 36 crore Gods and Goddesses and we in India love to worship almost all of these religiously and with regularity. But how we celebrate or worship them tells a lot about our system of patriarchy. This system has a lot of influence on how we treat our Gods/Goddesses and also how we see them.

 

Hinduism has over 36 crore Gods and Goddesses and we in India love to worship almost all of these religiously and with regularity. But how we celebrate or worship them tells a lot about our system of patriarchy. This system has a lot of influence on how we treat our Gods/Goddesses and also how we see them.
As someone born and brought up in a Hindu family where almost all the religious rituals are followed with perfection I have often wondered about these things. Following are some of my observations.

Celibacy/Brahamcharya

We all are aware of Lord Hanuman and also that he is a celibate. Then there is Shani Dev (Saturn God). Women are forbidden from going ‘near’ him at all times. Clearly, Brahamcharya is an important concept in Hinduism and requires a lot of courage in order to keep this vow of celibacy. In Fact, A man must go in seclusion to practice it. He must not go near the woman, as if the source of sexual excitement (corruption) is in her and that men know of no excitement, that the woman is an enchantress/seductress and has powers to make a man lusty. Men have to save themselves for the temptations of women! As if, it is only when the woman tempts that the men get excited!
On the other hand, can you think of any popular Goddess who is a Brahamachary? I can’t think of any. What does this indicate? It indicates that it is natural and obvious for every woman to be married. It cannot be otherwise. An unmarried woman is in fact looked down upon.

The dutiful Sacred Goddess

Similarly, there is no dearth of Hindu Gods with multiple wives but can you think of any Goddess with multiple husbands. Indeed, polygamy is just a male prerogative. Females are expected to devote their entire lives to one man. Clearly men tend to have more choices ranging from celibacy to polygamy.

Maa, Maata rani

‘’Maata Rani ka Ashirwaad’’ has been an integral part of many of our Indian TV serials and films. The characters invoke Devi Mata all the time in order to gain strength and confidence. But do they ever invoke Pita Parmeshwar ? That title is not reserved for the Gods. This is how we see women as-either as mother, sister, daughter, wife etc. She has to play one or all of these familial roles. She can never have any other identity.

Priestess?

Almost all the Hindu places of worship has a Pujari or Panditji. And they are always men. Even when it is the Goddess who is being worshiped in the temple, it is always the man who is near the idol and performs all the required rituals. Even those that include draping the idol with sari! The presence of a man is acceptable when it is God. But why even for the Goddess we have men performing all the religious tasks? Why will the Goddess, who is herself a woman will not want a woman doing these things for her? A woman, especially an Indian woman is always asked to be wary of that paraya mard (unknown man). But it is okay for our Goddesses to surround herself with men. Bizarre, isn’t it? The reasoning behind this practice is that women menstruate and men do not. This brings me to my next observation- Periods.

It’s ‘that’ time of the month

It is a common practice across almost all sections of Hindu (and even Muslim) society to restrict menstruating women from entering a place of worship such as temple or performing religious activities. The oft cited reason is that Gods do not approve of it since women are “impure” during this time. What about Goddesses? They say even she doesn’t approve. I have often wondered, Goddess being a female does not approve the proximity of a menstruating woman?? Does the Goddess menstruate? Isn’t this natural process considered as a gift? According to this logic those women who do not menstruate at all should be considered fortunate (Since they can enter the temple whenever they wish). But they are often stigmatized instead. I fail to understand this logic which is filled with contradiction.

Ghar Ki Laxmi

This Diwali I learned something new regarding the Goddess of Wealth Laxmi. On the day of Laxmi Pujan in almost all the houses the Goddess Laxmi is worshipped. The rituals may wary from region to region. In some houses along with Goddess Laxmi , God Kuber is also worshipped. I was told that there can be no Laxmi without Kuber since Kuber is the husband and protector of Laxmi. This reflects the idea that men are after all the protectors of women. This idea is further reflected in the way how women are considered as Ghar ki Lakshmi. This aspect is well put in this DNA article.

“It sounds very nice to hear when men talk of their wives saying, ‘Yeh toh mere ghar ki Lakshmi hai (She is the Lakshmi of my household).’ But from early Raja Ravi Verma paintings, just see how Lakshmi’s feet are kept well-hidden. Even now people believe that if Her feet are free she’ll move taking all the prosperity along. This gives you an idea of how men transfer-project their idea to control women onto the Goddess as well.”

But there are incidences where women have challenged these notions and centuries of unjust practices. Few years ago a group of women from a political organisation forcefully entered the inner area (this was forbidden) of the famous Mahalakshi temple of Kolhapur. This created quite a stir and generated debate.
Very recently in Pandharpur after a court verdict the hegemony of one family was broken when the doors of the famous vitthal temple were opened up for women and the people belonging to lower casts, as they were allowed to apply for the position of temple priest/priestess. Finally!

These are just a few observations that I came across. What about other religions? What is your experience? Do share in the comments section.

*The author of this article does not intend to hurt any religious sentiments.

http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-lakshmi-vs-saraswati-an-unequal-contest-2020262

http://indianexpress.com/tag/mahalaxmi-temple-in-kolhapur-district-for-women/

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/pandharpur-temple-allows-women-men-of-all-castes-as-priests/article6038635.ece