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🌿|The holy bloodstream|🌿

♠️The holy bloodstream♠️
Written by- a_mean_oh_acid

Every year, in the month of Ashaad (June according to Gregorian calendar), the river Brahmaputra turns red for 3 days. Devotees gather to the nearby temple and are distributed red hued water as a blessing of a menstruating goddess. Yes, you read this right! In a country where menstruation and any aspect related to female sexuality is considered a taboo, there is a temple which encloses a supposedly divine yoni(external female genitalia) of the goddess Kamakhya.

According to popular legends, Sati, an incarnation of the progenitor goddess Shakti, killed herself by jumping into the fire during the Yajna held by her father. Her husband, Lord Shiva was agonised to such an extent that he forgot his duties towards this world and roamed like a nomad holding her dead body pressed to his own. In order to make Shiva realise and resume his duties, Lord Vishnu used his divine Sudarshan Chakra to cut Sati’s dead body into 51 parts making them fall on various places on earth, now known as Shakti Peethas. The womb and the vagina of Devi Sati are believed to have fallen at the place where the Kamakhya temple is situated. King Nara Narayana of Cooch Behar rebuilt the temple in the 17th century Assam after it had suffered destruction at the hands of foreign invaders.

Every year in June, the temple is closed for three days as the locals believe that the goddess is menstruating. Surprisingly, during those three days the adjacent River Brahmaputra develops a deep red hue confirming the people’s beliefs. On the fourth day, the whole town gets to worship the ‘bleeding goddess’ and achieve her blessings. These days are celebrated by organising the annual Ambubachi Mela which attracts tourists from across the world.

Unlike most temples of India which literally ban menstruating women from entering their premises, this temple celebrates menstruation as the goddess’ blessing and a sign of fertility. The temple even has statues depicting womanhood in its natural glory.

Kamakhya finds its name from the God of love, Kama who had sought out Shakti’s womb and genitals after having lost virility to a curse. Other stories suggest that Kamakhya was the female energy formed by the union of 'Kama' and Shiva's third eye when Shiva burnt the God of love, enraged with his attempts of bringing him to disturb his meditation. As a tribute to Shakti and her ability to lend back Kamadeva his potency, the deity of Kamakhya Devi was installed as a Tantric goddess and is yet worshipped as a Hindu deity. Coincidentally, the place where the Kamakhya temple stands today is also considered to be the place where Shiva first courted Sati.

The mystery part of this legendary temple however lies in the fact about the river Brahmaputra turning deep red on exactly those three days. Some think that the priests throw humongous amounts of Sindoor into the river which is practically not feasible. Scientifically it was investigated that the region where the river turns red has soil rich in iron and large deposits of Cinnabar, a blood red coloured ore of Mercury. Maybe the presence of these elements makes the river red. Also red Algae species are believed to exist in the river.

But the question remains the same – Why those specific three days? Well, there has been no proper investigation till date and this continues to remain as a mystery, a never ending one. (If you know why or have another theory regarding this, certainly tell us in the comments section!)

Are the beliefs of the local people true, is the Devi actually menstruating?

I believe this place to be a well-placed sign laid by Mother Nature, another one of her miracles. An indication by her, that menstruation isn’t supposed to be a taboo; it is a gift of possible fertility. I believe that this is her way of telling us that those ‘bleeding days’ occur to women across the world, goddesses included and that is why we should not shush ourselves up when we are facing problems related to it. We shouldn't ever feel ashamed about such a natural event.

My family believes in the fact that in older times when women were forbidden to go to the kitchen, temple or any such place, it was to allow them relief during menstruation. Temples used to be at great distances and work in the kitchen used to be extremely exhausting then. But now, the advent of technology has made it appreciably easy for women to do anything even in those uncomfortable days. Due to which these customs are downright archaic and need not be followed anymore. Menstrual blood becomes dirty only due to all the cell debris it carries along with the unfertilised ovum and the bacterial contact it receives after coming out of the body.

It is a shame that in a country which is always personified as a female, we are forced to be lip locked about the most basic feminine biological events. And so I encourage you, girls, to fight back. If anyone tells you that you are impure during menstruation and tries to deny you your right to freedom in the name of fake 'cultural' bullshit, fight back. Tell them that the impurity is in their ignorant minds for in foetal stage they derived nutrition from that very 'impure' blood. If only they had paid attention to biology better in school, the world would have been a slightly better place!

Being a woman is a blessing to be celebrated, regardless of which stage of life she is in.