Author: Lovejit Dhaliwal in Pune
Publication: BBC News
Date: April 26, 2001
Women are trained to perform traditional
ceremonies.
Bright and busy, Sunitee Kadgil
is struggling to fit in a number of people who want her to perform Hindu
death rites, house-warmings and naming ceremonies.
A Hindu priest, she is one of a
growing number of Indian women who are queuing up to learn all about the
clergy.
Many of them are trained at the
Dyanaprabhodhini centre in Pune, a university city some 190 km south of
Bombay.
It's only recently that people realise
that women too are equally entitled to take up the priesthood
Jayavantrao Leile is head of the
centre and started to run a course for training priests some 10 years ago.
He recalls that even in the inaugural
year, there was a considerable show of interest from women. Since then,
every year, roughly a third of the intake is from women.
The course itself lasts just four-and-a-half
months, and within that time each of the 16 sacraments of Hinduism are
taught.
After that, the students are fully
qualified to practice.
Eager to learn
Many women like Sunitee Kadgil become
involved because they were curious and keen to learn something new.
Others, like Varsha Gadgil, cite
more personal reasons. Her interest stems from a shoddy service performed
by a male priest at a ceremony after her father-in-law died, 10 years ago.
"He didn't explain anything and
rushed everything," she says. "So, I wanted to learn and explain to people
as much of the ceremony as I could."
Sunitee Kadgil remembers the first
time she was asked to perform as a priest.
"It was at a relative's house, but
even then I was so nervous! I use to refer to my books all the time, but
now all that has changed," she says smiling.
Growing acceptance
The concept of a female priest is
not a new one.
Nutan Vimal Motilal is also a practising
priest and points out that women priests were written about in the sacred
Vedic texts.
But later men dominated the profession,
declaring that priests could only be male and only from a particular Hindu
caste.
"This is actually not true. And
it's only recently that people realise that women too are equally entitled
to take up the priesthood and women are also being tolerated more," Ms
Motilal says.
Women are now more in demand than
male priests, she adds.
This is a statement which the head
of the Dyanaprabhodhini centre, Mr Leile, endorses.
He has been approached by many -
both individuals and temples for women priests.
He remembers an incident when a
well-known Pune temple sought women priests to perform a particular rite.
Altogether 21-women went to the
temple to perform the rite and Mr Leile says, "the temple officials were
so impressed they [wanted] to use women priests every year".
'Honest and sincere'
Many individuals also seek out women
priests.
Prabhakar Balkrishan Karambelkar
recently had the sad occasion to call for a priest when his wife died,
and deliberately chose a woman priest.
Hindu temples have also requisitioned
women
"They were more honest, sincere
and the clarity with which they performed the ceremony was also refreshing,"
he says.
The growing popularity of women
priests is also being linked to the fact that men are now attracted to
more lucrative careers.
Both Sunitee Kadgil, who has been
practising for 10 years, and Nutan Vimal Motilal, who has been practising
for two, say they have never had a negative experience.
However, women priest have not been
welcomed everywhere.
Many people in rural areas are suspicious
of women priests and feel they make the whole ceremony unreligious.
"But once we explain that actually
women priests are allowed and use examples from the texts and also from
their own everyday lives, they are soon convinced that women priests are
as legitimate as male priests," says Ms Motilal.
Because of the popular demand, Sunitee
Kadgil has begun classes for women within her community.
She runs two classes with 15 pupils
each, who also help and participate in ceremonies that she performs in
people's houses.
With men being drawn away from a
spiritual career, more and more Hindu women are stepping forward to take
on the mantle of preserving their religious tradition.
