HVK Archives: Women priests
Women priests - The Observer
Kiran Thakur
()
15 March 1997
Title : Women priests
Author : Kiran Thakur
Publication : The Observer
Date : March 15, 1997
About 22 years ago, in 1975, a silent movement to introduce women
to yet another men's bastion had begun.
Shankarrao Thatte, who had a flourishing business of a
wedding-cum-conference hall in the heart of Pune, initiated a
movement to make women into priests. The orthodox Hindu men priests
had somehow managed to perpetuate a myth that religion did not
bestow women a right to conduct pooja.
No one seemed to have paused and made a serious inquiry into this
misconception until Mama, as Thatte was affectionately called, made
a beginning to train girls and women how to perform pooja for
others. Two decades later, his efforts have borne fruits as over
1500 women have learnt the art and skill of priesthood from the
Shri Shankar Seva Samiti.
Scores of these manila purohits have in turn trained other women in
their respective localities and one can not keep count of the
growing number of these new priests.
After the death of Mama in 1987, his wife Pusphatai-Mami continued
the legacy of Mr Thatte in their Udyan Prasad Karyalaya in Sadashiv
Peth in the heart of the city. She supervises the family business
and at the ripe age of 71, and continues to guide about 150 women
on how to conduct a pooja, be it for satyanarayan pooja,
Bhoomipooja, upanayan or vivah. It was not an easy task for Mama
to undertake such an unconventional programme as a mission for
life. Even though, it was in Pune where Maharashi Dhondo Keshav
Karve had laid the foundation for women's education about a century
ago, the city's men priests were not prepared to accept Mama's
arguments and work.
Apparently, the movement has the potential to be a threat to their
business. Senior priests pronounced that the Hinduism did not
confer a woman the right to conduct a pooja. No one was prepared to
teach women Sanskrit mantras and rituals that go with pooja and
other festive occasions.
Mami recalls, "The way out for Mama was to learn the details of the
rituals from a priest who was considered to be an authority in
Pune. Mama would come back and pass on the knowledge to women who
were eager to learn. It meant pressure on his time, but he did it
with a zeal."
His training began in chaturmahas of the Hindu calendar.
Hindu families observe fasts and celebrate several festivals during
these four months. Young girls mainly from middle income families
joined the initial batch at the Karyalaya which had become a
residential school for the training. Gradually, the training
became one of the foremost activities of the Karyalaya, where young
and old housewives joined to utilise their spare time in the
afternoons. Soon, people began insisting on women priests to be
invited at their places to perform pooja for them.
Vasanti Khadilkar, a middle aged student from the earlier batches,
says Mama took care when people sent out invitations to the trained
students. He would himself go to the house to meet the family to
find out if it was safe for his students to go there. He would
send two, not one, women to a house. At times, he would himself
drive the women priests to these places and fetch them back.
The society has now accepted the fact that women can conduct the
pooja as efficiently as the men priests, some of them with more
proficiency than those men for whom earning heavy dakshina.
Pushpalata Dharmadhikari, another student from the earlier batches,
insists that women carry out any assignment with dedication and
sincerity, and pooja is no exception.
"We explain the jayman (the host) the purpose of a pooja and the
ritual as prescribed in the scripture and complete the pooja
without short-cuts", she says.
For Khadilkar and Dharmadhikari and scores of these women priests,
the priesthood is not for business. They do not need extra money
to maintain their families. "We do it as a tribute to Mama who for
us is a reformer of our times. We do it because we care for our
religion, culture and traditions," they say in unison.
For some, the paurohitya, however can be a good source of income,
as they get a dakshina of a minimum Rs 60 for a pooja. But more
importantly, says Khadilkar and Dharmadhikari, the training has
given them a social standing. The women priests are respected,
people come to them for advice and they have become family friends
of their yajmans. Knowledge of Sanskrit, correct and clear
pronunciation and the rhythm of mantras provide them satisfaction
to conduct themselves with authority and dignity.
"I am more balanced, more matured and more confident than ever
before,' Pushpalata says as she describes how she is not any more
worried during the difficult times or is not excited when she has
reasons to rejoice, as she did prior to the training.
The movement is not restricted to the school set up by Mama any
more.
Jnanaprabodhini, an educational institution in Pune, has also
prepared courses to conduct pooja in simpler ways, eliminating
unessential and time-consuming rituals. Women can join in and even
the uninitiated can use text in a book and carry on with the chosen
pooja.
Nasik, another tradition-bound city of Maharashtra, did not prove
to be a problem for women there who wanted to learn to conduct of a
pooja. The Rani Laxmibai Bhawan, a leading educational institution
for women, took the initiative about seven years ago to begin the
training under the guidance of Sanskrit scholar Veenatai Modak, who
is an officer at the Bank of Maharashtra. The men priests did not
oppose or refuse to co-operate, but offered every assistance for
the training.
The Bhavan has introduced a five year formal course in which the
women are taught dhyanshloka, atharvasheersha, Vishnu sahasranam,
mahimnastotra, pandurangashtak, purushsukta, Gangalahari, Ganesh
pooja, ashtadhyayirudra, and shantisukta samskarvidhi.
Smita Apte, who stood first in the first batch, has so far
conducted over 130 poojas of varied nature, and has been teaching
other women students at the Bhavan after her Guru Veenatai was
transferred out of Nasik.
She is happy that she and other housewives like her could learn and
pass on their knowledge to the new students, without affecting
their responsibilities as a housewives.
A proud achievement for Smita Apte and her colleagues Vaishali
Pathak and Mrs Gaidhani is the pooja conducted by adivasi or tribal
girl students at Harsul in Nasik district. As a part of the Vishwa
Hindu Parishad's programmes, the women priests had trained students
on Sundays for over one and a half year. The efforts succeeded as
the students, who could not speak even chaste Marathi earlier,
chanted Sanskrit mantras, completed poojas all by themselves at the
conclusion of their training.
Such a step has ended yet another myth that only the upper caste -
ie Bramhins - could perform pooja. Now it is just not women who
perform it with success, but also those women who belong to castes
other than the Bramhins.
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