{"id":3562,"date":"2016-03-16T10:06:41","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T04:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562"},"modified":"2016-03-16T10:06:41","modified_gmt":"2016-03-16T04:36:41","slug":"its-a-long-road-to-sabarimala-what-about-our-right-to-pray-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3562","title":{"rendered":"We Made It to Sabarimala. What About Our Right to Pray at Home?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“N<\/span><\/p>otions of rationality cannot be brought into matters of religion,\u201d said Justice Indu Malhotra, the only woman and dissenting judge on the panel that declared everyone, including women of menstrual age, has a right to enter Kerala\u2019s <\/span>Sabarimala Temple<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\n\nJustice Malhotra echoes the thoughts of a majority of followers of India\u2019s institutionalised religion, which is as far from logic and scientific rationale as the Sabarimala priests are from abiding by the Supreme Court verdict. To bring home the case in point, Hindu scriptures, specifically the Puranas, detail <\/span>menstruation<\/span><\/a> with a story: God Indra once killed a Brahmin, which is a sin of the highest order. To absolve himself of it, he divided his sin into four parts (because Gods can do that), and distributed it among four different things. To make up for this, he even awarded them with a boon. Trees, water, and the earth took three parts, and women took the fourth. So, for five days every month, women pay penance for the sin they did not even commit and bleed. Hence they are considered impure. In return, they received the boon that allowed them to get more sexual pleasure than men. <\/span>\n\nHow is it possible to fight this belief system with logic? <\/span>\n\nThe furore over the Sabarimala Temple verdict isn\u2019t about equality versus stigma, men versus women, it is about <\/span>religion<\/span><\/a> vs rationality. When you bring rational thinking into this equation, you are essentially questioning the word of God. <\/span>\n

For them it\u2019s not so much about the right to pray. What they fear is the wrath of God.<\/blockquote>\nI recently tried doing just that with my grandmother, and it didn\u2019t turn out well.<\/span>\n\nI come from a Bengali Brahmin family that has always taken pujas very seriously. From childhood, my <\/span>grandmother<\/span><\/a> taught me a host of dos and don\u2019ts that I was expected to adhere to \u2013 the most important of them was, \u201cNo touching God when you are \u2018sick.\u2019\u201d Obviously, being \u201csick\u201d meant being on your <\/span>period<\/span><\/a>. This is a commonly held belief in almost all households which live in the fear of god. <\/span>\n\nI have lived by this rule for the past 20 years, sometimes getting a free pass from the backbreaking work required during any <\/span>puja<\/span><\/a>. As I grew up, I started finding the ritual regressive, but always knew it was something I had to follow to keep the peace in the house. <\/span>\n\nWhen I was 13, I forgot that I was on my period and went ahead and performed the evening puja in the house. Then I remembered what I had done was supposed to be a sin, and my mother found me bawling my eyes out. I was terrified that I had committed an unforgivable crime. That God would punish me. My mother patted my head and said, \u201cDon\u2019t worry, it\u2019s all <\/span>superstition<\/span><\/a> that doesn\u2019t count, as long as grandmother doesn\u2019t see it.\u201d <\/span>\n\nI grew up to be an <\/span>atheist<\/span><\/a>, and have not prayed in years. However, organising pujas in the house is a filial obligation, which I perform to the best of my ability. <\/span>\n\nThis year during Laxmi Puja, my elder sister was on her period. No one would let her touch anything, which meant I had to work twice as hard, swallow random discrimination, and watch my sister tiptoe around the house like a pariah. But I couldn\u2019t take it anymore.<\/span>\n\nAfter all I considered myself a hot-headed <\/span>feminist<\/span><\/a>, with a full 21 years of inexperience. If I could not fight against discrimination in the house, how could I take my battles outside?<\/span>\n\nSo, I went up to my grandmother and I asked her why this rule existed. Puzzled, she asked, \u201cWhat do you mean why does it exist? I don\u2019t know why it exists.\u201d I asked her why she followed something that she doesn\u2019t have an explanation for. She said, she did it because her grandmother had asked her to. She, unlike her granddaughter, trusted in the wisdom of her elders. <\/span>\n\nAngrily piling rice in delicate mounds for the puja, I tried a different approach. \u201cSo, Laxmi is a woman right? Does she not get pujas during her periods?\u201d<\/span>\n\nMy grandmother smiled and said, \u201cOh Laxmi doesn\u2019t get periods, only <\/span>Durga<\/span><\/a> does.\u201d<\/span>\n\nI spluttered, my eyes wide, repeating slowly, \u201cThe Goddess of <\/span>Fertility<\/span><\/i> doesn\u2019t get periods?\u201d <\/span>\n\nGrandma shrugged, looking distraught, repeating, \u201cI don\u2019t know, I just know you are impure when you are sick.\u201d By this point, I was on the verge of shrieking out loud. We fought for around four hours, at the end of which she declared that she was feeling nauseous. In the evening, however, she let my sister wash something that was going to be used for the puja. She said, \u201cYou both spent the entire afternoon lecturing me, so I suppose you know better.\u201d<\/span>\n\nThat day my sister helped with the puja, but I realised I had lost yet again. For my grandmother wasn\u2019t convinced I was right, she accepted this as yet another rule we \u201cEnglish-speaking, irreverent youngsters\u201d are breaking. It was all a fault of our upbringing, Western influence, and we were lost in the eyes of her God. <\/span>\n\nAnd this is probably what priests trying to protect Lord Ayyappa believe. For them it\u2019s not so much about the right to pray. What they fear is the wrath of God. <\/span>\n\nThe greatest trick the Devil pulled was to convince us that he doesn\u2019t exist. The greatest trick religion pulled is to convince us that God exists, and he is watching us all, waiting for us to be lured away by logic and explanation. <\/span>\n\nWe blasphemous dissenters of religion don\u2019t have any such trick up our sleeves. Other than get into screaming matches with our grandmas and barging into temples. If that means angering god and his faithfuls, so be it. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Confronting my grandmother about my sister\u2019s participation in a house puja while she was on her period turned into a four-hour screaming match. At the end of it all, grandma allowed her to wash some puja utensils, but I still lost. I could not convince her to change her belief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":279,"featured_media":3563,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[170],"tags":[710,4592,6750,4172,6751,2909,6529],"class_list":["post-3562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender","tag-feminism","tag-god","tag-mensuration","tag-period","tag-praying","tag-rights","tag-sabarimala"],"yoast_head":"\nWe Made It to Sabarimala. What About Our Right to Pray at Home?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Confronting my grandmother about my sister\u2019s participation in a house puja while she was on her period turned into a four-hour screaming match. At the end of it all, grandma allowed her to wash some puja utensils, but I still lost. I could not convince her to change her belief.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"We Made It to Sabarimala. What About Our Right to Pray at Home?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Confronting my grandmother about my sister\u2019s participation in a house puja while she was on her period turned into a four-hour screaming match. At the end of it all, grandma allowed her to wash some puja utensils, but I still lost. I could not convince her to change her belief.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-16T04:36:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1540700668.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sreemoyee Mukherjee\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"We Made It to Sabarimala. What About Our Right to Pray at Home?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Confronting my grandmother about my sister\u2019s participation in a house puja while she was on her period turned into a four-hour screaming match. At the end of it all, grandma allowed her to wash some puja utensils, but I still lost. I could not convince her to change her belief.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sreemoyee Mukherjee\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3562#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3562\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sreemoyee Mukherjee\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5778e79f780e4ecc9c6032961f0e068a\"},\"headline\":\"We Made It to Sabarimala. What About Our Right to Pray at Home?\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-16T04:36:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3562\"},\"wordCount\":998,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3562#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1540700668.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Feminism\",\"God\",\"mensuration\",\"period\",\"praying\",\"rights\",\"sabarimala\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Gender\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3562\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3562\",\"name\":\"We Made It to Sabarimala. What About Our Right to Pray at Home?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3562#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3562#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1540700668.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-16T04:36:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5778e79f780e4ecc9c6032961f0e068a\"},\"description\":\"Confronting my grandmother about my sister\u2019s participation in a house puja while she was on her period turned into a four-hour screaming match. At the end of it all, grandma allowed her to wash some puja utensils, but I still lost. I could not convince her to change her belief.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3562#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3562\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3562#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1540700668.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1540700668.jpg\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3562#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"We Made It to Sabarimala. What About Our Right to Pray at Home?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5778e79f780e4ecc9c6032961f0e068a\",\"name\":\"Sreemoyee Mukherjee\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/eacefdcd78b0f8e25bc8ef6e0421b238a4943a77bbf088ea07cef4a8a4f1c2c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/eacefdcd78b0f8e25bc8ef6e0421b238a4943a77bbf088ea07cef4a8a4f1c2c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/eacefdcd78b0f8e25bc8ef6e0421b238a4943a77bbf088ea07cef4a8a4f1c2c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sreemoyee Mukherjee\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=279\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"We Made It to Sabarimala. What About Our Right to Pray at Home?","description":"Confronting my grandmother about my sister\u2019s participation in a house puja while she was on her period turned into a four-hour screaming match. At the end of it all, grandma allowed her to wash some puja utensils, but I still lost. I could not convince her to change her belief.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"We Made It to Sabarimala. What About Our Right to Pray at Home?","og_description":"Confronting my grandmother about my sister\u2019s participation in a house puja while she was on her period turned into a four-hour screaming match. At the end of it all, grandma allowed her to wash some puja utensils, but I still lost. I could not convince her to change her belief.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-03-16T04:36:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1520,"height":850,"url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1540700668.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sreemoyee Mukherjee","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"We Made It to Sabarimala. What About Our Right to Pray at Home?","twitter_description":"Confronting my grandmother about my sister\u2019s participation in a house puja while she was on her period turned into a four-hour screaming match. At the end of it all, grandma allowed her to wash some puja utensils, but I still lost. I could not convince her to change her belief.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sreemoyee Mukherjee","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562"},"author":{"name":"Sreemoyee Mukherjee","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/5778e79f780e4ecc9c6032961f0e068a"},"headline":"We Made It to Sabarimala. What About Our Right to Pray at Home?","datePublished":"2016-03-16T04:36:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562"},"wordCount":998,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1540700668.jpg","keywords":["Feminism","God","mensuration","period","praying","rights","sabarimala"],"articleSection":["Gender"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562","name":"We Made It to Sabarimala. What About Our Right to Pray at Home?","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1540700668.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-16T04:36:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/5778e79f780e4ecc9c6032961f0e068a"},"description":"Confronting my grandmother about my sister\u2019s participation in a house puja while she was on her period turned into a four-hour screaming match. At the end of it all, grandma allowed her to wash some puja utensils, but I still lost. I could not convince her to change her belief.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1540700668.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1540700668.jpg","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3562#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"We Made It to Sabarimala. What About Our Right to Pray at Home?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/5778e79f780e4ecc9c6032961f0e068a","name":"Sreemoyee Mukherjee","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eacefdcd78b0f8e25bc8ef6e0421b238a4943a77bbf088ea07cef4a8a4f1c2c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eacefdcd78b0f8e25bc8ef6e0421b238a4943a77bbf088ea07cef4a8a4f1c2c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eacefdcd78b0f8e25bc8ef6e0421b238a4943a77bbf088ea07cef4a8a4f1c2c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sreemoyee Mukherjee"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=279"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1540700668.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/279"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}