भारत के एक बहादुर, मास्टरमाइंड और रॉकेट मैन के जन्म ने इतिहास को एक नया मोड़ दिया, वह कोई और नहीं बल्कि अंग्रेजों को सबक सिखाने वाले भारतीय शासक टीपू सुल्तान थे। एक साहसी शासक जिसने अंग्रेजी ईस्ट इंडिया कंपनी के साथ चार युद्ध लड़े।

शेर की तरह दहाड़ता और गोरिल्ला की तरह लड़ता एक सुल्तान

"I am a shy person and I actually get embarrassed when people compliment me for my looks. But when I think about it later, I feel good." - Dharmendra

The He-Man Of Indian Cinema

Footwear is one of the most essential items used by humans in their day-to-day lives. Modern fashion trends like high heels or boots are considered to have evolved in the West.

From Padukas to High Heels

एक योजना जिसने देश के टुकड़े टुकड़े कर विभाजन की रूप रेखा तैयार की। इस योजना ने भारत में जो आग लगाई उसे आज तक पूरी तरह काबू नहीं किया जा सका है। यह और कोई नहीं बल्कि 1947 में 3 जून को पेश की गई माउंटबेटन योजना थी।

बंटवारे की योजना

The Bhangarh fort in Rajasthan is famous for being one of the most haunted places in India. Ghost hunters and thrillseekers have dreamt of unravelling the mystery of Bhangarh. Such is Bhangarh’s reputation that even ASI has put up a notice board stating that “Entering the borders of Bhangarh is strictly prohibited before sunrise and after sunset”. Well, let’s see what history tells us of Bhangarh’s mystery.

Demystifying Bhangarh

We often find people worshipping their ancestors. It’s a common practice that is followed by most traditional societies all around the world. And today we are going to discuss one such tradition that has been followed by the Ahoms for more than 400 years in Assam  – called Me-dam-me-phi.

Me-dam-me-phi

A budget carries a lot of responsibilities. The demands of the first budget of India were very different from the demands that are required by the Indian budget today. Ever wondered what problems did the first budget of independent India addressed to? 

The beginning of Budgeting in India

जजों ने हमें निर्दयी, बर्बर, मानव कलंक आदि विशेषणों से याद किया है। किन्तु हम पूछते हैं कि क्या इन जजों ने जालियांवाला बाग़ में डायर को गोली चलाते देखा या सुना नहीं? क्या उसने निरस्त्र भारतीयों –स्त्री, पुरुष, बाल, वृद्ध, सबपर गोलियाँ नहीं चलाई थी? कितने जजों ने उसे इस तरह के विशेषणों से संबोधित किया? फिर क्या यह सब हमारा मजाक उड़ाने के लिए किया जा रहा है? - अशफ़ाक़ुल्लाह ख़ाँ

22 अक्टूबर 1900 को जन्म

आज़ादी हम लेकर रहेंगे

"Don't give up. Courage is my conviction." With this belief, Dhirubhai Ambani became an Indian tycoon who rocked Indian industries and built the massive Reliance Empire. A brand name in himself, he died today.

Mota Bhai: Indian Tycoon 

Stories can never be taken at face value, a child does not originally recognize the difference between a story, their imagination and reality itself but as we mature, we come to recognize stories for the meaning and values they contain. Knowledge has had to be simplified through the *yugas* (generation, period of time, or age), by the *dwapara yuga* (second in the four *yugas*, lasted 864,000 years), the original *srutis* (‘that which is heard’, or the insights that came to the *rishis*, through which the *vedas* were composed) were simplified into stories. Because stories are subject to interpretation, the correct interpretation depends on the lens through which they are interpreted, as well as the person's available background knowledge and context (*agama*). The bulk of the populace now believes that menstrual processes are tainted, and every question is answered through this lens. We must begin to question our culture such that it empowers us and roots us in strong scientific exploration from many thousand years ago; one that needs cross-verification and made applicable to today's society.

The Agama shastras are a large collection of tantric literature that provides descriptions of how a temple should be built. The temple is the manifestation and expansion of the god who resides in *Brahmasthana* in the centre. The deities are consecrated with *prana pratishtha* (rituals to invite a resident deity) and strict rules are set in place to ensure that the *chaitanya* is maintained (consciousness, or energy). So, while various temples may have the same deity, their *chaitanya* will be radically distinct, implying that their ordinances will vary as well. They're designed to reflect a person's subtle energy bodies or *chakra* systems.

There are *nadis* or junctions throughout our body and being through which energy in all forms flows in a unified orchestration to manifest all of reality. In the *sthula sharira* (physical body), this can be understood as the various neural pathways, as well as the nervous system and blood vessels. This permeates as the *sukshma sharira* (subtle body) into the *nadis*, minor and major *chakras* (or energy centres), ultimately interconnected to all of reality; or the ‘indira's web’s

4th-5th century stone sculpture at Kamakhya Devi Temple in Guwahati, Assam built in honor of Shakti. Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons

shakti_974a18cdb1.png

In the base chakra, *muladhara* and *swadhisthana*, the *apana vayu*, down and outward flow of energy; influences digestion, elimination, reproduction, and menstruation in women. During a woman's menstrual cycle, a*pana vayu* is activated to release blood and the egg.

Going to temples that have an effect on the lower chakras overcharges the *apana vayu*, causing profuse bleeding and other issues associated with an overstimulated element.

The Arunachaleswara Temple at Thiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu for example, is a *Manipooragam Stalam* (placed on the navel, according to tantric chakras the third primary *chakra*) and is specifically associated with the element of *agni* (fire). The digestive system connects the *manipura chakra* to the physical body. Shiva is represented in this temple as the *agni lingam*.

The_seven_Chakras_346f25e8d5.png

Similarly, when a menstruating woman goes to a temple that raises energy to the higher chakras (from the heart upward) it causes the naturally downward flowing *apana vayu* to be pulled upward creating resistance. When the currents move in one direction, it comes into a state of resistance if there is a force pulling it from the opposite direction. For the top three channels to be balanced, the lower three must be cleared, and vice versa. The HPO axis is a very important and regulated system in the body for a woman’s menstrual cycles. The ovaries convert testosterone released via pituitary gland into estrogen, which leads the adrenal glands and pituitary gland to produce other menstrual cycle hormones and to stop ovulation by decreasing testosterone production. The feedback loop is disrupted if the pituitary gland (connected to the forehead chakra) is obstructed. It leads to PCOS, excessive testosterone levels, decreased ovarian function, hypogonadism, and endocrine issues. 

Similarly with any material like *prasadam* or *kumkum* from temples, it was advised not to be used because these materials are seen as part of the same *chaitanya* guiding the temple, and can have the same effect as visiting the temple. Every aspect of the temple is regulated by certain norms in order to maintain that same energy, thus in order to be in alignment with the state of the woman's body during menstruation they were advised not to visit certain temples, and avoid risk of complications. The connotation picked up over time was that the blood of the woman is impure, or that some function of the menstruation is impure.

Arunachalesvara Temple, the manipooragam stalam in Tamil Nadu. Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons

Arunachalesvara_Temple_378648a82f.png

Menstruation is a very sensitising process; the woman's body naturally becomes more sensitive to the subtler (and more experienced) aspects of life as the body releases and purifies itself. Just because something requires purification does not make it inherently impure, in fact, the possibility for purity is a better indicator of its genuine purity. It only makes reasonable sense that the laws governing one physical system be better tailored to that system rather than applying the same rules to all bodies carelessly. In doing so, we acknowledge that each gender's physical systems are different and unique, part of nature.

One narrative for why women menstruate is that they have taken on Indra's guilt. Menstruation has also been associated with the killing of the possibility of life. We can begin to change the layers of maya and transform the way we relate to the universe if we shift our perspective to a more holistic and non-ego view, from one of scarcity to one of abundance, and see menstruation as the unlimited possibility of birth. This is a narrative that we are free to interpret, and our investigation of the meanings should be based on fact and thorough examination.

Leaflets from Susruta-Samhita or Sahottara-Tantra, 12th-13th century from Nepal. Image credits: Wikimedia Commons

Leaflets_from_Susruta_0fc713a527.png

Culture

Religion

Women's menstruation is governed by several regulations, converting a natural biological event into one fraught with constraints and humiliation. But when did these rules become about impurity or sin in history? Were these norms part of a formidable system of human knowledge, or were they the repressive norms we know today? We investigate why a menstruating female was told not to visit a temple and question our perspective from oppression to unity and rationality founded in our roots.

Ritika

Unravelling the history of menstruating women not entering temples

Ritika

Recommended Stories

Latest Audio Stories

शेर की तरह दहाड़ता और गोरिल्ला की तरह लड़ता एक सुल्तान

The He-Man Of Indian Cinema

From Padukas to High Heels

बंटवारे की योजना