TEMPLES AND WOMEN PRIESTS

Majority of the devotees flocking the temples for worship are women but none of the temples have a woman priest. All the priests are men. This is a common picture in all the temples of worship where women are restricted from becoming a priest. Such discrimination against women is persistent from time immemorial in almost every religion. Those who consider themselves as the protector and preacher of these religions do not even question themselves why women cannot occupy the position of priest in temples.

Whenever the issue of backwardness and discrimination against women is raised in our society, the same people try to justify the openness of the Hindu religion towards women by citing examples where women are placed in position of Goddesses. But, women are not given a chance to occupy prestigious position of priesthood in religion similar to politics where women are allocated only those seats in constituency where the chances of winning elections are negligible.

Women used to read religious books such as Vedas and Upanishad during the Vedic era. These women used to debate and discuss with their male counterparts on religious issues. Some of the learned women of that period include Gargi, Aapala and Uttara who were placed in the upper most echelon of intellectual society at that time. But during the post Vedic Period, women's right and independence started to decline as new rules and regulations, perspectives and practices emerged in the society. This resulted in lack of growth of women in every sector and they remained only subservient to men.

After the publication of Manu's Script, which dictated that low castes, illiterates and ignorant women cannot and should not be allowed to recite the Vedas, there was a rapid decline in women's participation to education. Women were not able to raise their voice against this discriminatory attitude and there was a complete halt in their development.

Beena Poudel, an associate professor in the central department of Nepalese History, Culture and Archaeology of Tribhuban University, says that those who are economically and intellectually weak have stronger faith in religious beliefs. She feels that Nepali women are more religious in nature and visit temples religiously in order to drown their sorrows.

          Mr. Gyan Man Karmacharya, Priest of Dakhin Kali Temple believes that a woman cannot become a priest of that temple. Karmacharya has occupied the position as this ancestral right and the worship of the temple is done in strict adherence to Tantrik methods. Therefore, a priest has to acquire this knowledge by learning two types of religious incantations which is only taught at Kot Ghar of Pharping. Women belonging to this family are also allowed to learn these incantations but it was found that women are only taught one of the two mantras. When the priest was questioned why men are eligible to learn both the mantras and not the women, Mr. Karmacharya replied that women are not taught the second mantra only because they are women. Due to this reason their knowledge remains incomplete and they are not allowed to become a priest of that temple.

The head of  Central department of Nepali, History, culture and Archeology in Tribhuwan University, Professor Dr. Mukunda Aryal feels that restrictions on women to become priests is a bad tradition of our society and this needs to acquire education and Knowledge on Vedic hymns and this bad tradition has emerged in our society. But, the present day women are much learned and they can very well pronounce the Vedic hymns. Therefore, they are capable of becoming priests.

Associate Professor Beena Poudel feels none of the religious scriptures mention that women cannot learn Tantrik chants and she stressed on the need to raise voices against such discriminations in the society.

President of Vedic association and an expert of culture, Mr. Baldev Juju feels that such discriminations against women is preventing them from forging ahead towards the path of development. According to him these hymns, which are considered restricted for women, are now highly and issue of debate in the society. He clearly says that if a man has become a priest only because of these hymns and not due to his manhood then women should also be allowed to learn those hymns. In this process of acquiring Tantrik knowledge, women are also involved but similar to other sectors male dominance prevails.

It was also revealed that women are not given the position of priest at temple because of their menstruation cycle and pregnancy. But, these are not the regular [day to day] features of women's life. If these are considered hindrances in this path then these could be overcome by performing the duty in a mutual way by both the counterparts. Men can take over the charge for that period and vacate the position when it is over.

According to Prof.Dr. Mukunda Aryal, no religious book has the ruling that women cannot learn any specific religious hymn due to her womanhood. When superficial regulations emerged they gave birth to such traditions and these should be exposed before the society. When asked about the women's right to9 become priest he said that today we have a lot of learned women in our society and therefore a very congenial environment has developed where women can very well take up this responsibility in our society.