Feature: Many Nepalese Hindu women now discarding old beliefs on menstruation

Garima Adhikari, a 13- year-old eighth grader from Bhaktapur, woke up early morning on Friday. She, along with her mother and some neighbors, must reach the Godawari River before sunrise.

With mixed feelings of nervousness, shyness and irritation, Garima participated in an hour-long ritual of holy bathing in the river. She had to rub her whole body with a special concoction prepared at home, a mix of soil, milk, butter, and cow dung, among others.

She has to carefully massage every part of her body, including her private organs, with the special concoction in line with the Hindu practice. She also has to brush her teeth daily with a medicinal plant called "Datiwan".

Garima was among thousands of Hindu women in Nepal who celebrated the annual Rishi Panchami festival. It was her first experience bathing in the Godawari River after her first menstruation cycle just four months ago. "It was a weird experience. My mom said it is compulsory for Hindu women to take the holy bath and ask for forgiveness for our sins. I felt this tradition unnecessary and only cause inconvenience to young girls like me," Garima told Xinhua in an interview.

The Rishi Panchami festival is being observed by praying to seven sages or "Sapta Rishis" to free young women from sins supposedly committed during their monthly period. Women visit the nearby rivers and ponds and take a holy bath. They also observe fasting throughout the day and eat a special delicacy of rice and taro only in mid noon.

It is compulsory for young girls to observe this festival strictly after her first monthly period. They are asked to seek forgiveness from the Gods and to purify themselves. It is believed that not going through this ritual would have adverse effects on all members of the family.

In many rural communities in Nepal, women are restricted to touch their male family members like husband, father and brothers during their menstruation period. During their monthly periods, women are even required to sleep separately and cannot use kitchen utensils obviously because of the wrong belief that they are impure.

In the far western part of Nepal, there is even a weird custom called "Chhaupadi" where women, during menstruation, are required to live in complete isolation in a cow-shed or "goth" for four days and are prohibited from seeing the daylight.

Although menstruation is a natural phenomenon, it is in Nepal still considered as a sign of impurity. Women are forced to stay out of kitchen and religious rituals.

But some Nepali women like Garima now tend to disregard these old-age beliefs on menstruation.

The 26 year-old Jyoti Adhikari has a more cynical view of the Hindu ritual and beliefs on menstruation. "How can menstruation, which is related to the creation of a new life, be considered impure or sinful? I think this religious belief is nonsense and should be stopped," Jyoti said.

In Nepal religious rituals and ancient traditions are still prevalent, particularly in the rural areas. But more and more people in the urban centers have realized the folly of such practices. "Menstruation is a normal physiological process so it should not be considered as impure. Rituals such as bathing in dirty rivers and ponds can expose young women to infection and, therefore, is very unsanitary and risky," Jamuna Acharya, a Nepalese medical professional currently living in Britain, told Xinhua through an e- mail. Endi