Now the priestess presides

Sunday August 24 2008 02:29 IST

<small>Behind the haze and smoke of a havan kund (ceremonial fire) at a puja squats the priest reciting mantras and slokas in a rhythmic cadence. As the ritual draws to a close with a prolonged swaa-haaa, many from the sizeable gathering make a beeline to touch the priest's feet. Only, in this case, the priest is not your archetypal tilak-anointed, dhoti-swathed man but an elegant woman!

At an age when her contemporaries are content mollycoddling their grandchildren, sexagenarian Sandhyavandnam Lakshmi Devi's schedule is packed with weddings, thread ceremonies and other pujas, not as a mere invitee but as the officiating priestess.

She believes women have to take charge of rituals, especially at home. If she is educated in samskaras, she will be able to pass them on to the next generation, Sandhyavandnam points out.

As if in response to her call, women priests are increasingly beginning to find public favour. No longer are they considered an oddity even at marriage ceremonies. These women have managed to break the shackles of tradition and gone beyond chants muted by the four walls of home into the wider world which actually seems to be showing a marked preference for them.

Not only are they sought by individual households, but many temple authorities are also looking to the purohitas as they have acquired a reputation for answering queries patiently and taking pains to explain slokas.

Their acceptance as pandits has also been speeded up by the recognition that they have earned their priesthood through interest and hard work, and not acquired it as a hereditary sinecure. Consequently, they do not have the image problem their male counterparts have of being perfunctory and smug.

Women priests display more sensitivity and a sense of vocation. And people especially appreciate the fact that we explain the meaning of chants and mantras, says Sandhyavandnam, who started off as a purohita some 30 years ago. The first woman in Andhra Pradesh to obtain a doctorate in Vedic studies, she has trained many women priests.

While most Hindu women priests are self-taught, a few have studied the religion systematically before being ordained. Among these are Suneeti, Vasudha Sastry, Oruganti Lakshmi Devi (Miryalaguda), Sulochana, Saraswathamma (Kamareddy), Swaroopa Rani (East Godavari) and Kalyani (Tenali).

Sandhyavandnam is one of those in Hyderabad who have forayed into the male-dominated field. As per Hindu rituals, there are 16 samskaras, namely: Garbhadan, Pumsvan, Seemantonayan, Jatakarma, Nama-karana, Nishkramana, Annaprashana, Chudakarana, Karna-vedha, Upanayan and Vedarambha, Keshanta, Samavartan, Vivaha, Vanprastha, Sanyas and Antyeshthi. I perform all except Vanaprastha and Sanyas, which are solemnised by male counterparts, she explains.

Sandhyavandnam has been performing rituals not only in Andhra Pradesh but also in Pune and Tamil Nadu. She also conducts the Upanayan rite for both boys and girls.

Even in the West, Hindu women are studying for the priesthood and conducting ceremonies. Shashi Tandon left New Delhi for the United States in 1982. In her years in the new country, she has presided over countless ceremonies in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere, helping to meet the shortage of priests. In one of her interviews, Tandon, who can perform all 16 samskaras, or rites of passage, says: There is nothing in Hindu scriptures that bars women from becoming priests. The mother is the true priest. She is the true teacher, the first teacher of the child.

An admirer, Aashi Singh of Chicago, notes: She has gained widespread popularity in the Hindu community in the States because of her fluency in English and Sanskrit and her vivid explanations of religious rituals.

But purohitas still do come up against cultural barriers.

For instance, a menstruating woman is considered impure and traditionally not allowed to enter a temple or take part in rituals. The purohitas keep that in mind and stay away during those days. That said, the public's acceptance of purohitas is now beyond doubt.

Be it a wedding or an Arya Samaj or a traditional Hindu ceremony, including consecration of idols of Gods and Goddesses, at hand are Pranaveswari, Rajeswari, Bhuvaneswari and Gnaneswari, all purohitas from Choutpally, Nizamabad. Though they are married and have children, they have not given up purohityam. And they also run a Vedic school exclusively for girls. The Upanayan of the sisters was performed at an early age. Having no brothers, they inherited the occupation from their father, Kancham Kansiram Joshi.

In Kendrapara (Orissa), women have long performed priestly functions at the 300-year-old Maa Kharakhia temple. In fact, the temple, on the banks of the Brahmani in Adarpalli village is unique in that men are barred from entering the shrine! In yet another temple in Satabhaya village, men are, however, permitted to worship Maa Panchubaraha.

A big factor behind the rise of the purohita is that many men are leaving the occupation for better-paid jobs. In times past, the priestly class was highly respected, but this has changed now. Considerations of both economic and social status are seeing the sons of priests shy away from the profession, says Pt Malviya. Though women priests no longer raise eyebrows, the fact still is that when it comes to main rituals, men still hold sway. Male priests say it is difficult for the soft-hearted purohita to perform difficult rituals such as shraddh (death ceremonies).

Sandhya Kulkarni, Sanskrit scholar and priest, drew media attention when she first conducted a shraddh a few years ago when noted actor Mohan Agashe's mother died. Kulkarni went on to conduct several such rites. Over time, she realised that her friends, and even her own family, were ostracising her. Finally, her family said she must stop conducting the 'inauspicious' rituals for the sake of her children, because no one would marry youths coming from a family that conducted death rites.

However that may be, what really endears women priests to the people is that they are less businesslike. They do not take up too many assignments and do not seek shortcuts.

It must also be noted that some of the most popular faces of Hinduism in India and around the world today are women such as Mata Amritanandamayi. They might be minuscule in number and conservative Hindus might frown on them but not for long, because women priests have proved themselves as good as, and in some respects better than, their male counterparts.

The Vedic tradition is exemplified in a verse from Brihadaranyakopanishad, which reads, atha ya icched duhita me pandita jayeta, (a well-to-do man always thinks his daughter should be a scholar). But the Puri Shankaracharya denounced Vedic education for women. Male priests first criticised and opposed their female counterparts by invoking religious authority.

They said soft-hearted women priests could not perform difficult rites like shraddh. But Sandhyavandanam Lakshmi Devi, the first woman to conduct Telugu rituals had an answer for this. She has performed many anteyshti (last rites) including that of her teacher Gopadeva Sastry. A person who knows atma and karma tatva will not fear death, she says.

There are organisations and ashrams in several parts of the world that are actively engaged in training and ordaining women to perform priestly functions. In Pune, for example, the Shankar Seva Samiti trains women to chant Vedic mantras and perform various rites. It was founded by Shankarrao Thatte in response to the careless manner in which men were conducting the rites. They serve in Pune, but have also travelled abroad, and are experts at performing the Srauta ritual and the Ganesha, Vishnu, Rama, Guru, Chandra, Surya and Rudra yagnas.

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