Women In Hinduism

This Essay traces the reflection on ritual and royal courtesans in South Indian Hinduism by foreign travellers, visitors and residents from the earliest available sources. Gradually this reflection turns into a dialogue with the changing indigenous Indian reflection on the presence and function of these professional women generally called 'Devadasis' , working in the public sphere of pre-Colonial, Colonial and post-Colonial Renaissance Hindu society.
'Devadasis: Courtesans between Power, Shame and Fame'  summarizes in a succinct way the reflection on this cultural phenomenon by the author from her PhD (1984) and its commercial publication 'Nityasumangali - devadasi tradition in South India' (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1987- 4 editions) until 2013 (published in: Encyclopedia of Hinduism - Brill: Leiden, Boston)

A seminal research article comprising the key scholarly texts on the Brahma Kumaris. Each sections includes a 400 word commentary and an annotated bibliography. Sections include Introduction, General Overviews, Feminism, Organisational Change, Spiritual Technologies, Values, Scientific Research Studies, Internet Site and Splinter Groups.

In recent management and organisational studies, researchers have explored the tensions emerging between social constructions of femininity and the identity of the ‘modern’ working woman. The fundamental insight is that the practices, beliefs, and narratives that define women and men are socially constructed and historically situated in power relations. In exploring an organisation’s culture, focusing on the narratives of femininity, i.e. the stories that shape the identities of individuals and groups, serves as a tool to better understand these constructions.

We propose a framework for clustering and visualization of images of face carvings at archaeological sites.

The pairwise similarities among face carvings are computed by performing Procrustes analysis on local facial features (eyes, nose, mouth, etc.). The distance between corresponding face features is computed using point distribution models; the final pairwise similarity is the weighted sum of feature similarities.

A web-based interface is provided to allow domain experts to interactively assign different weights to each face feature, and display hierarchical clustering results in 2D or 3D projections obtained by multidimensional scaling. The proposed framework has been successfully applied to the devata goddesses depicted in the ancient Angkor Wat temple. The resulting clusterings and visualization will enable a systematic anthropological, ethnological and artistic analysis of nearly 1,800 stone portraits of devatas of Angkor Wat.

Through the centuries of patriarchal control women have negotiated many layers and levels of existence working out various forms of resistance through various mediums which have often gone unnoticed. Bhakti was one such medium which was open to women. Since religious space was the only  space available to women in medieval times many women embraced bhakti and it provided them the space to define their own truths in voices that revision society, polity, relationships and religions. Women’s articulation here is often at odds with the dominant male voice which is the only voice that is heard in traditional historiography. Gender becomes a useful category of analysis for elucidating the many ways in which relations of power are constructed and represented in society. Using a number of hagiographic accounts, inscriptions and primary sources, the author reconstructs the bhakti movement when newly emerging social groups, attempted to redefine their position and status within the given traditional hierarchy and spearheaded a movement articulating their demands for restructuring the existing order. If we are to search for the historical figures of the women bhaktas we will hit a wall. There is very little information on them in the conventional sense yet there are many unconventional sources which have largely remained unilluminated till today.  Yet many of these women bhaktas go much beyond the shadowy realms of the past and are very much alive today in popular culture and the day to day life. We have totherefore turn to the collective memories and remembrance which are based on their bhajans and poems. It is from these that we can get few glimpses of the lives of these women in medieval times. Most of these women lived during the period from 12th century to 17th centuries. A glance at the writings of these women Bhaktas show that they were spurned by patriarchy and thus Bhakti becomes an outlet for them. Most of these women were encultured into a certain culture which was mostly a closed culture, but through this movement a certain space was created for their freedom and mobility. This gave courage to the women to outpour divine melodies from the heart articulating their concerns and  singing unfettered in their own voices. Though many of the women saints in medieval India had emerged from an atmosphere of discrimination and oppression where patriarchal values still were held in high regards, many of them charted their own course and in the end emerged as individuals with a mind of their own and all this was possible due to the space provided by bhakti.  For all these women bhaktas the rejection of the power of the male figure that they were tied to in subordinate relationship became the terrain for struggle, self assertion and alternative seeking. They defy patriarchal norms of marriage and walk out (except in the case of Bahina bai) and live life in their own terms. This book will be very useful to scholars interested in Feminist History. Scholars of religion and Asian Studies will also find this book a useful source of information. The sensitive and rigorous research will be of great help to young scholars interested in embarking on a journey to discover the religious history especially with regards to women history  in the South Asian context.

“Menstruation Across Cultures: A Historical Perspective” by Nithin Sridhar is an important book for several reasons, but I will mention only a few in this review. Instead of giving a chapter-by-chapter look at the key ideas from the book, my purpose and focus in this review is somewhat different. I wish to point out why I think this book must be read by all those interested in gender studies, and especially Indian women.

While speaking of some important points covered in the book, my main purpose is to highlight what I think are some of the main contributions of this book, in two key areas: a) menstruation related discourse in India, and b) connection between culturally grounded understanding of menstruation and a woman’s sense of identity and self-worth.

This article decodes the concept of God in Hinduism -on how the Supreme Brahman is perceived in five different forms of which idol worship at a temple is the easiest and meant for the community as a whole. As such rules and regulations for temple worship encompass restriction on women during menses. The only available scientific research on what happens inside a temple is recorded in this article. Based on the discovery of generation of negative ions in a temple, this article decodes the rationale behind the restriction on  women of menstruating age at Sabarimala.

This monograph is the Ph.D dissertation which Saskia Kersenboom defended (cum laude) on May 18, 1984 at Utrecht University, Dept. of Oriental Studies. As an early example of interdisciplinary research this work brings together primary textual data in Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu, fieldwork in and around temples in Tamil Nadu and artistic apprenticeship in South Indian music and dance as performed by DEVADASIS in temples and royal courts until the middle of the XX-th century.
The main hypothesis "Nityasumangali" the 'ever auspicious female' that applies to hereditary ritual specialists holds until today and continues to inspire contemporary research. It was one of the first works to extricate Devadasi matriarchal culture from the (post-)colonial binary question whether these professional, independent females operating in the public sphere should be considered as secular "prostitutes" or as "nuns" dedicated to ritual service in Hindu temples.
NITYASUMANGALI the PhD dissertation has been edited integrally by Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, as 'Nityasumangali Devadasi Tradition in South India', first in 1987 and subsequently reprinted in 1998, 2002 , 2011 and 2016. Currently, it is a prescribed textbook in Dance Studies, both academic and applied. 
During the period 1984 and 1987 this PhD Dissertation has entered both academic and popular scientific publications in India and abroad. It has been heavily plagiarised  both in academic and popular writing. The central hypothesis Nityasumangali has fired public imagination into dance, drama and film projects for which I as an author am not responsible and which I deeply regret if not despise.
I  open my original PhD manuscript up to the general public in order to offer a corrective  antecedent to all later use of this popular epithet.

For ongoing research see under Projects 'MURAI - the Right to Perform' www.academia.edu/11226255

See also the ways in which the author proposes to share her fieldwork and research with a younger generation through' YATRA Residency in Tamil Nadu': https://vimeo.com/140105118 and www.academia.edu/15392636

In recent years, the growing interest in the relationship between religion and “the Feminine,” whether human or divine, has given rise to diverse academic volumes exploring this connection in different traditions. The academic examination of the Feminine in Hindu traditions has been, for the most part, rooted in efforts to describe and interpret, using various scholarly methods, including ethnographic, historical, or literary research on Hindu women and Hindu goddess traditions. Important as these areas of study are, they are necessarily circumscribed by the methods of inquiry they employ and hence are, generally speaking, not concerned with exploring the relevance of Hindu understandings of the Feminine to theological concerns or contemporary forms of gender activism. The traditional academic parameters of textuality and anthropology are, of course, necessitated by the demands of credible scholarship. They can, however, be complemented by thealogical reflection, and constructive engagement. Such an approach could provide a more nuanced exploration of the significance of Hindu understandings of the feminine in terms of the following:
• Conceptual resources for thealogical reflection and reinterpretation.
• Alternative insights on the multiple possible modes of envisioning female empowerment and the divine feminine in feminist theory discourse.
• The relevance of Hindu models of the feminine to crosscultural philosophical, theological, ontological, or sociological interchange.

The historical Shiva, living around 7000 years ago, always worked for the welfare of all living beings, according to Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti in his book Namah Shiváya Shántáya. Shiva introduced Dharma to help human beings attain the Supreme Goal of life. He introduced marriage into human society for the first time, with women and men as equal partners. He introduced the 7-note musical scale that later became the octave. Although soft to some and severe to others as needed to rectify bad behavior, good people loved Shiva and exploiters strongly opposed him. Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti or Prabhat Rainjan Sarkar (1922-1990) was also such a personality, in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna. He founded the international socio-spiritual organization Ananda Marga (“Path of Bliss”) -- Richard Gauthier, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, USA, November 30, 2020.

Nine Nights of the Goddess explores the festival of Navarātri alternatively called Navarātra, Mahānavamī, Durgā Pūjā, Dasarā, and/or Dassain which lasts for nine nights and ends with a celebration called Vijayadaśamī, or the tenth (day) of victory. Celebrated in both massive public venues and in small, private domestic spaces, Navarātri is one of the most important and ubiquitous festivals in South Asia and wherever South Asians have settled. These festivals share many elements, including the goddess, royal power, the killing of demons, and the worship of young girls and married women, but their interpretation and performance vary widely. This interdisciplinary collection of essays investigates Navarātri in its many manifestations and across historical periods, including celebrations in West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal. Collectively, the essays consider the role of the festival s contextual specificity and continental ubiquity as a central component for understanding South Asian religious life, as well as how it shapes and is shaped by political patronage, economic development, and social status.

Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888 - 1989) is widely acknowledged as the father of Modern Postural Yoga.  This paper carefully analyzes one of his few major works, the 1934 Yoga Rahasya, . The book reveals the depth of Krishnamcharya's dialog with the received tradition as well as his desire to promulgate a modern yoga focused on numerous complex asanas, yoga for the householder and yoga for women.

Menstruation across Cultures attempts to provide a detailed review of menstruation notions prevalent in India and in cultures from across the world. The world cultures covered in the book include Indic traditions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism; ancient civilisations like Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia and Egypt; and Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Two themes of special focus in the book are: Impurity and Sacrality. While they are often understood as being opposed to each other, the book examines how they are treated as two sides of the same coin, when it comes to menstruation. This is especially true in Indic traditions and pre-Christian polytheistic traditions like Greco-Roman, Mesopotamian and Egyptian. Impurity and Sacrality complement each other to form a comprehensive worldview in these cultures.

The book also examines how the understanding of impurity in Abrahamic religions differs from those of polytheistic cultures. As part of the examination of the sacrality attached to menstruation, a special focus has also been given to the deities of menstruation in polytheistic cultures and to what Ayurveda and Yoga say about this essential function in a woman’s physiology.

Finally, a comparative study of menstrual notions prevalent in modernity is presented, along with a Do and Don’t dossier.

Link- https://www.vitastapublishing.com/component/virtuemart/shop-store/non-fiction/menstruation-across-cultures-the-sabarimala-confusion-a-historical-perspective-detail.html?

As  the  world’s  oldest  living  religion,  Hinduism  has  some  ancient
features that have not been modified or edited to suit more refined modern tastes, that generally avoid raising many stark issues of life. In fact, until some young ladies began discussing their biological cycles before males  in colleges, universities and in public fora very recently, much to the horror of their  mothers  and  grandmothers.  The  subject  of  monthly  cycles  had deliberately been kept out of any conversation, except in whispers. India could  thus  be  commended,  for  observing  for  several  centuries, certain festivals that other religions ignored.
One of them symbolises the menstruation of mother goddess: Ambubachi. This worship of the earth, of course, was to ensure  bountiful crops and vegetation and the concepts of Shri Devi, Maha Lakshmi, and Durga as Shakambhari are all very old and just a few among the  countless forms of such worship. Ancient Hinduism was clear that it was inevitable to go through this dynamic cycle of barrenness and fertility, and that it calls for public celebration not condemnation.

Manusmriti is considered the foundations of Hinduism. The lives of Hindu women are heavily dominated by the rules laid down by Manu [archetypal man; the first man]. This paper explores how these ancient texts still determine how a woman is treated while on her menstruation. The deep-seated gender discrimination in the texts, is still practiced in many educated household in Nepal.

M ałżeństwo, jak każdy inny element życia społecznego, przybiera różne warianty, w zależności od warunków kulturowych panujących w danej grupie. Uwzględniając ten fakt, określić można minimum definicyjne, występujące niezależnie od czasu i miejsca. Najprościej rzecz ujmując, małżeństwo to pewna instytucja społeczna, regulująca związki między partnerami oraz relacje między nimi a resztą społeczeństwa. Podstawowe cztery komponenty określające te powiązania, to: płodzenie dzieci, współżycie seksualne, przekazywanie potomstwu wartości kulturowych oraz środków materialnych. Wszystkie te składniki stanowiące istotę małżeństwa wskazują na jego społeczny wymiar. Wejście w związek małżeński oznacza rozpoczęcie życia rodzinnego; rodzinie zaś, oprócz realizacji wcześniej wymienionych celów, przypisuje się też funkcję rekreacyjną i religijną (Adamski, 1982, s. 15, 61-63).

Static models of Hindu women as marginalized and muted subjects have in recent years been enlivened by a body of work that investigates the ways in which women both subtly and overtly resist, contest, and re-imagine these roles. This article presents a thematic survey of this field of study, drawing from a selection of recent ethnographic work that has contributed to our deepened understanding of the manifold ways – both positive and negative – that Hindu women experience their tradition. It serves as a beginner's guide to the literature tracing the multiplicity of meaningful engagements with Hindu belief and practice that mark the rhythms of women's daily lives, and points to new areas for research.

The present work is the result of an honest inquiry into the positioning of women in yoga, both in the past and in the present, concerning historical and social developments while considering their implications on the yoga discipline and on female practitioners likewise. Yoga has its ancient roots in Hindu scripture and yet it is ever so popular in today's culture

Undeniably the most famous episode of Kṛṣṇa's youthful life in Vraja, the moonlit tryst with the gopīs has been celebrated across India for millennia-variously recounted in Sanskrit and vernacular languages, and sensuously represented in poetry, drama, music, and the visual arts. Because the story depicts simple cowherd women enjoying intimate contact with Kṛṣṇa without knowing he is God, scholars have often viewed the gopīs and their spontaneous love as proof that bhakti is a democratizing force allowing all people, regardless of caste or gender, unmediated access to divinity and deliverance from saṃsāra. According to this view, women are particularly privileged in their intimate relations with Kṛṣṇa, praised in Sanskrit texts even for their transgressions of dharma, thus demonstrating that bhakti is a socially subversive force in an otherwise conservative culture. In the introduction to his recent, popular translation of the tenth skandha of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, for example, Edwin Bryant (2003: liv-lv) claims in a discussion of the gopīs that while the conventional roles of women in everyday society are not challenged by the Bhāgavata, the text allows them to discard these roles in the context of bhakti yoga and, having done so, is ground-breaking in the Purāṇic genre by its promotion of women as not just eligible devotees, but the highest of all yogīs.

The word bindu dates back to the hymn of creation known as Nasadiya Sukta in the Rigveda. Bindu is considered the point at which creation begins and may become unity. It is also described as "the sacred symbol of the cosmos in its unmanifested state".What is the Cosmological and Cultural story of the Bindu or Bindi?"

Almighty God has provided for all our physical needs. The Holy Quran says:

He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth. (2:30)
And He has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth; all this is from Him. (45:14)
Just as Almighty God has taken care of all our physical needs, He has also provided for our spiritual and moral needs. For this purpose He has been sending His Messengers and Reformers in all parts of the world among all nations from time to time. Thus the Holy Quran says:

And there is no people to whom a Warner has not been sent. (35:25)
And there is a guide for every people. (13:8)
Whenever there is decay of Dharma (i.e., religion) and there is spread of Adharma (i.e. irreligion) then for the protection of the poor and the good and for the destruction of the evil-doers, I shall appear from age to age. (Srimad Bhagrat Gita 4:7,8)
In accordance with these teachings, Almighty God has been sending innumerable messengers for the spiritual progress of mankind. Among these have been Prophets Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Ramchandra, Zoroaster, Confucius (peace be on all of them). Ultimately when the human mind attained its full development and the time approached when mankind was about to become one people, the system of sending different messengers for different nations was terminated and Almighty God sent the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, as an exemplar for all mankind. He appeared in Arabia about 1400 years ago. Addressing him God says in the Holy Quran:

Say, O Mankind! truly I am a Messenger to you all from Allah to Whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. There is no god but He. He gives life and He causes death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Prophet, the Immaculate one, who believes in Allah and His words, and follow him that you may be rightly guided. (7:159)
It is a historic fact that the teachings of prophets who preceded the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, were limited to particular people and particular ages. On the other hand the message of Islam is of universal nature. The Holy Prophet(saw) was sent as a mercy for all rnankind. The Holy Quran says:

And We have sent thee not but as a mercy for all peoples. (21:108)
Previous scriptures such as the Vedas of the Hindus contain numerous prophecies pertaining to the advent of the Holy Prophet(saw). The Holy Quran says:

Those who follow the Messenger, the Immaculate one, whom they find mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel which are with them. He enjoins on them good and forbids them evil, and makes lawful for them the good things and forbids them the bad, and removes from them their burdens and the shackles that were upon them. So those who shall believe in him, and honour and support him, and follow the light that has been sent down with him – these shall prosper. (7:158)
This lengthy passage from the Holy Quran not only mentions the purpose of the advent of the Holy Prophet(saw) but also states that earlier scriptures contain prophecies regarding his advent. Not only the Jewish and Christian scriptures but also the Hindu scriptures contain many prophecies about the Holy Prophet of Islam(saw).

Among the four Vedas of the Hindus, Athra Veda occupies a prominent position. It is also known as Brahma Ved (i.e. Divine knowledge). It contains the following prophecy:

O people! listen to these words with reverence. A very praise-worthy person will appear among the people. He will accept him from among 60090 enemies. His means of transport would be 20 camels . His name will soar high and then return. This great Rishi will have 100 gold coins, 10 pearl necklaces, 300 Arab horses and 10,000 cows. (Athra Ved Kantam 20-127, 70-1-3)
Here many characteristics of the Holy Prophet(saw) have been mentioned . The Promised Rishi is called praiseworthy. The word Muhammad itself means worthy of praise. He and his companions used camels as means of transport whereas for the Rishis of India, the use of camel is forbidden (Manu Smrithi 5:8). When the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, appeared in Arabia, the population of the Arabs was stated as a little more than 60,000. The entire population had become his enemies. Almighty God protected him against his enemies. The Holy Quran also says:

And Allah will protect thee from men. (5:68).

For more details please read simple booklet: Prophet Muhammad in Hindu Scriptures by DR. Z. HAQ

This essay raises certain serious issues regarding future of Indian democracy. In the light of facts discussed about Hindutva politics (based on its documents) it should not be difficult to comprehend that RSS and its camp followers present the greatest internal danger to democratic-secular polity which ostensibly stands for justice and equality. The shocking reality is that except RSS & Hindutva clan all those who want to destroy Indian democracy (like Naxalites, militants belonging to other religious outfits and regional separatist groups) have met with brute force of the Indian State. But the former are having free run (heading central and state governments) despite open violent preaching for overthrowing the democratic-secular Indian polity. This is despite the fact that Neo-Nazis of Europe have openly disclosed their close affinity with RSS and its clan and offered to  help in overthrowing democracy in India & elsewhere. Imagine if the same ideology was preached by ‘militants’ of Dalit, Muslim, Sikh or any other variety, their fate would have been sealed by bullet or jail. We urgently need to take note of the serious danger posed by RSS and its clan. They should not be allowed to undo a democratic-secular India. We should not allow them the liberty to force us to the path of a theocratic state like Pakistan.
[This paper on the ideology of Hindutva was written when RSS/BJP ruled India in 2002. The Hindutva politics has become more extremist, provocative and intransigence since that time. So the dangers before Indian polity are very real even today. The present version is an updated one]

"An extraordinary analysis of Southeast Asia’s most esoteric female performing art: the ancient Cambodian ballet. A wartime twist of fate made the author one of the only Westerners in history to gain full access to the formerly sequestered troupe of royal dancers, their teachers, theater and archives. Over the past millennium, these women were goddesses, priestesses, queens, concubines, hostages and diplomats. Earth in Flower reveals the complete details of their tradition for the first time.

The 62-page PDF preview here includes: front and back covers; table of contents, list of photos and illustrations; complete front matters (publisher's foreword, author preface, acknowledgements and introduction); the full text of chapter 1, "Introduction: Sources of the Study"; and the index."