Hindu Women not allowed to Perform Funeral Rites- Here’s why!
Hindu women are held back from performing last rights. Doesn’t seem right, does it?
Recently the story of women not being allowed to enter certain temples was doing the rounds; but how is the former justified?!
You will hardly ever see a woman lend a shoulder to carry the body of a loved one. So, the idea of a woman lighting the funeral pyre seems plain delusional!
What could possibly be the reason behind such an austere and seemingly irrational practice? After all, a cremation is the only chance left to bid farewell to the deceased.
What is shocking is that women were never barred from attending funeral rites in the ancient age. As mentioned in Mahabharata, women have freely
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Men! And if there is no male inherent; a close male member was supposed to complete the ceremony. The reason - Only if a son lights the pyre will the deceased be able to go to heaven.
• Where men perform this gloomy task; women were meant to take care of the house, children, and guest that arrived to share condolences. This could have been the start of what is a now forbidden - discouraging woman from attending funerals.
• Emotional and high sensitivity of women was another factor. It is a general notion that women are weak at heart and therefore would not be handle the funeral on goings. And sometimes when the cremation is in process, some brutal actions like hitting the body hard so that it burns properly is required! This may not go down too well with a woman’s psyche.
• Lastly, some believe that the cremation grounds are full of spirits that are waiting to possess women; only because they are believed to be so vulnerable. They say; hair makes the beauty of a woman! And it is hair, which attracts the spirits. So if a woman had to go to a funeral she would have to go bald? This may have been reason enough as to why it supposedly does not happen anymore!
However, this is not true for all Hindu communities. Some communities in the South do not follow this