Our ancestors were too smart and generous. Every custom made had a reason tagged to it which worked well according to the time and place. But eventually, things took a turn for bad and people merely started following the rituals blindly, without trying to comprehend the reason or modifying the ritual as per the time. This basically happened with the fall of the Vedic era.

It is seen in many households today that women are not allowed to touch pickles or cook during their periods. In some extreme cases, the elderly women of the family force the young guns to stay isolated in some room in complete solitude while menstruating. In some cases, they are also advised against or completely barred from having a bath during periods too. Lastly, there is a total ban on menstruating women entering religious places or touching idols.

As mentioned previously, our ancestors thought very wisely. Two things that were different from the present time-

1. There were no absorbent napkins available at that time and the cloth, after being used repeatedly, was unable to soak much fluid and would turn leaky soon.

2. People had common bath areas in the early civilizations.

So to start with, women were allowed to fully rest during menstruation and were excused from all household duties. This led to quicker recoveries and happier women. That’s the reason they were not allowed to cook and also due to hygienic reasons(remember they didn’t have any pads, tampons, or menstrual cups to turn to?) .

Due to the reason mentioned in the first point, women were isolated in separate rooms so that they would not cause any blood spills in the house 😛 Similarly, they were not allowed to enter temples, as praying necessarily involved sitting down, and that would definitely stain the ground in those days.

Now, since people had common bath areas, menstruating women were not allowed to bathe during those days for obvious reasons.

 As a matter of fact, the ancient scriptures do define menstrual blood as being impure, but so is any other secretion that seeps out from the body, be it any fluid in the form of mucus, sweat, or even tears. So yes, you are impure while menstruating, but then everyone is impure because we are sweating in some amount round the clock, all year round. You are also impure while you are crying and begging in front of some idol or in a temple. No point in disgracing a woman while she is menstruating. After all, praying is more about a spiritual connection to the divine rather than your body.

We need to understand that the previous generation would not accept or initiate change or modulation in their custom so easily as they’ve been raised that way. It is us who have to bear the torchlight.