Menstruating Women Cook Food for 300 People
To put an end to all the stigma surrounding menstruation, a Delhi-based NGO named 'Sachhi Saheli' organized a 'Period Feast' or 'Mahavari Mahabhoj' on February 23 where 28 menstruating women cooked an
Days after 66 girl students in Bhuj town of Kutch in Gujarat were made to strip to check if they were menstruating, a video showing a religious leader castigating menstruating women who cook food for their husbands went viral.In the video, Swami Krushnaswarup of Swaminarayan Temple in Bhuj can be seen giving a sermon where he says that “menstruating women who cook food for their husbands will take birth as dogs in their next life while men consuming food prepared by women having periods will reborn as bullocks.”
To put an end to all the stigma surrounding menstruation, a Delhi-based NGO named 'Sachhi Saheli' organized a 'Period Feast' or 'Mahavari Mahabhoj' on February 23 where 28 menstruating women cooked and served food to over 300 attendees.The people who attended the feast also signed a pledge to stand in support and dispel the myth that women are impious during menstruation.
The NGO aimed at normalising what is considered impure and can potentially destroy the "dharma" of husbands, as claimed by Swami Krushnaswarup Dasji.Several women organized street plays to dismiss all the superstitions and myths associated with periods.The event focused on preserving women's menstrual dignity and protest against the negativity spread by Swami Krushnaswarup and several other leaders. The women wore aprons that read, "I am a proud menstruating woman."
Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, also attended the event. He said, "In today's scientific day and age, there is nothing pure or impure about menstruation, it is a natural biological process that should be taken as it is."
