Chhaupadi
Encyclopedia
Chhaupadi is a social tradition in the western part of Nepal for Hindu
women which prohibits a woman from participating in normal family activities during menstruation
because they are considered impure. The women are kept out of the house and have to live in a shed. This lasts ten to eleven days when an adolescent girl has her first period and four to seven for every following one. Childbirth also results in a ten to eleven-day confinement.
During this time, women are forbidden to touch men or even to enter the courtyard of their own homes. They are barred from consuming milk
, yogurt, butter
, meat
, and other nutritious foods, for fear they will forever mar those goods. The women must survive on a diet of dry foods, salt, and rice. They cannot use warm blankets and are allowed only a small rug; most commonly only things like jute
sacks. They are also restricted from going to school or performing their daily functions like taking a bath, forced to stay in the barbaric conditions of the shed.
This system comes from the superstition of impurity during the menstruation
period. In this superstitious logic, if a menstruating woman touches a tree it will never again bear fruit; if she consumes milk the cow will not give anymore milk; if she reads a book about Saraswati
, the goddess of education, she will become angry; if she touches a man, he will be ill.
Many people are raising their voices to abolish these practices, and recently, a case has been filed in the Supreme Court of Nepal to forever eliminate these cruelties.
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
women which prohibits a woman from participating in normal family activities during menstruation
Menstruation
Menstruation is the shedding of the uterine lining . It occurs on a regular basis in sexually reproductive-age females of certain mammal species. This article focuses on human menstruation.-Overview:...
because they are considered impure. The women are kept out of the house and have to live in a shed. This lasts ten to eleven days when an adolescent girl has her first period and four to seven for every following one. Childbirth also results in a ten to eleven-day confinement.
During this time, women are forbidden to touch men or even to enter the courtyard of their own homes. They are barred from consuming milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
, yogurt, butter
Butter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...
, meat
Meat
Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
, and other nutritious foods, for fear they will forever mar those goods. The women must survive on a diet of dry foods, salt, and rice. They cannot use warm blankets and are allowed only a small rug; most commonly only things like jute
Jute
Jute is a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, which has been classified in the family Tiliaceae, or more recently in Malvaceae....
sacks. They are also restricted from going to school or performing their daily functions like taking a bath, forced to stay in the barbaric conditions of the shed.
This system comes from the superstition of impurity during the menstruation
Menstruation
Menstruation is the shedding of the uterine lining . It occurs on a regular basis in sexually reproductive-age females of certain mammal species. This article focuses on human menstruation.-Overview:...
period. In this superstitious logic, if a menstruating woman touches a tree it will never again bear fruit; if she consumes milk the cow will not give anymore milk; if she reads a book about Saraswati
Saraswati
In Hinduism Saraswati , is the goddess of knowledge, music, arts, science and technology. She is the consort of Brahma, also revered as His Shakti....
, the goddess of education, she will become angry; if she touches a man, he will be ill.
Many people are raising their voices to abolish these practices, and recently, a case has been filed in the Supreme Court of Nepal to forever eliminate these cruelties.