Think of a Hindu wedding ceremony and the first thing, perhaps, that is most likely to come to your mind is the chanting of Sanskrit mantras, the recitation of vows by an actively involved groom with a quiescent bride by his side—all against the backdrop of the sacred fire, performed under the guidance and instruction of a male priest. For centuries, the roles and responsibilities of priesthood have been confined to male priests. Yet, a deep dive into Vedic literature and ancient Indian scriptures gives reason to subvert the norms that have been.
The history of the Hindu tradition since has seen a welcome change—albeit not without its struggles—with social reformers across the country encouraging the education and training of women to partake and preside over religious rituals. A right monopolised by a few men has been challenged and reclaimed by the other—women who are scholars in the Sanskrit language, well-versed in Vedic scriptures and eager to take on the reigns. Five priestesses talk us through their journeys, challenges and motivations to redefine sexist rituals.
Dr Nandini, Shubhamastu
Dr Nandini has been a student of Sanskrit all her life. It was her knowledge of the language, a perennial curiosity to understand religion, and a somewhat rebellious mind that led her to question her disallowance in the field, and eventually become a priest. “Being a good scholar in the language from a very young age, it occurred to me that Sanskrit bears such a rich tradition of culture and literature, and at present, is not quite accepted by the young generation. I realised that it is only through Sanskrit that Hinduism can be known and understood. So, when my elder daughter was getting married around 2013, I offered to preside over the wedding ceremony myself,” she says.
Her daughter’s wedding marked the beginning of a long and cherished journey in priesthood. At the time, she and her co-priest Ruma had no intentions of pursuing priesthood regularly. “Because nobody could accept it,” she says. In a world that seems to be running high on patriarchal traditions, there was little space for women to go beyond convention.
“Even now, I have to prove myself every day, which a male priest does not need to,” she adds. “Very few people were ready to accept what we were doing. Even the educated and seemingly open-minded ones accepted it with a pinch of salt. ‘Actually, we are used to priests being males only and as you are women we cannot accept you as a priest,’ they would say,” she shares. This happened over and over again—people would approach them out of curiosity and eventually ask for a male priest. “That’s when I started becoming vocal about these norms and traditions,” she says.
The duo continued despite the discouraging responses and founded Shubhamastu—an organisation run by female priests with a vision to create an equal and inclusive society for all. Speaking of their unique system devised to challenge norms, she says, “All rules and rituals are crafted according to the time. The time tells the need for rituals. We do not perform kanyadaan, because we believe that it is no longer necessary. In the traditional system, we find that the boy does everything during the ceremony and the girl sits like a puppet and just prays. But in our process, the girl is an equal participant in the wedding,” she says. “We perform wedding ceremonies for all communities– Indians and non-Indians, sometimes even inter-religious because ultimately, we are led by universal human values.”
Dr Manisha Shete, Jnana Prabodhini
Jnana Prabodhini is a Pune-based organisation that has been training women to take on the role of priests. Dr Manisha Shete of Jnana Prabodhini says, “I have always been interested in this field. I am a PhD in Hinduology. When I was doing my research, here at Jnana Prabodhini, I learnt about this course. At the time I didn’t have plans on pursuing it.” Despite concerns and apprehensions from those around her, she completed her course at the organisation in 2006, has been a practising priest for over a decade now and wouldn’t have it any other way.
She remembers the concerned looks, questions and judgements she faced when she informed her family members and husband about her decision. “He found it a bit strange and perceived it to be something only men did, like most people do,” she recalls. Nevertheless, she persisted, and her husband realised how well-received her work was. “He came to accept and understand it and me in the process,” she says. Outside her home, Dr Shete remains all too familiar with the experience of being treated as a passive participant. “If I am performing a wedding ceremony, and there is a male priest with me, people focus on him. They ask him all their questions. But it is slowly changing,” she says.
At Jnana Prabodhini, processes have been crafted to keep the wedding proceedings relevant, while still staying true to the Vedic literature. “We don’t shift from the essence. But a change that we brought in, was that during weddings, in addition to the father of the bride, even the mother is allowed to perform the kanyadaan ritual. Just because the father is present, why should the other parent not get a chance to perform the ritual? Today, in any case, most families do not want to avoid the kanyadaan altogether,” she says.
Sujata Bapat, Jnana Prabodhini
Having received a Masters degree and a doctorate in the Sanskrit language, learning the mantras and rituals of the Vedic tradition seemed like a natural progression for priestess Sujata Bapat. “A friend of mine at Jnana Prabodhini introduced me to this course and I was immediately interested. At that time, I had never imagined that I would pursue this as a profession,” she recalls. She completed her course called Purohit Varga in 2014 and has been performing pujas and other rituals since, paying little heed to those who try to stop her.
She let us in on the rituals within the Maharashtrian wedding tradition that have evolved from their once patriarchal nature. “There is a ritual, where the bride sits on the mother-in-law’s lap and looks into a mirror. It is called sunmukh bhagne and symbolises the arrival and acceptance of the bride as the daughter of the house. In the olden days, the girl was very young when she got married and had much of her childhood remaining. Today, it is irrelevant. Another ritual we did away with is the one performed when the boy’s family arrives for the wedding. The girl’s family traditionally has to wash the feet of the boy’s family and give them something to eat. It was prevalent in the past because families used to come from far away. It is not so anymore,” says Bapat.
Surekha Likhite, Jnana Prabodhini
“This is not a profession for me. It’s something I do with all my heart,” says Surekha Likhite of Jnana Prabodhini. “When I was very young, I would see my grandfather perform pujas at our home and would speak in Sanskrit. As I grew older, I realised the true meaning of the rituals as opposed to the blind idol worship that we often see around us. It is about having faith.” Her early experiences with faith prompted her to pursue education in Vedic literature to become a priestess. When she began her journey in 2004, she observed a clear aversion to women priests. “People would always ask for male priests,” she recalls, “Eventually, however, people understood that women can play the same role and with a lot more care and dedication.” She remains a traditionalist in her methods but is open to learning rituals from other cultures and communities.
Priyanka, Shubhamastu
Growing up, Priyanka of Shubhamastu witnessed her father performing all the pujas in her home. “Being born and brought up in a middle-class Bengali family, I’ve seen my father performing ritualistic puja ceremonies. That was the beginning for me. In 2022, I saw a Facebook post on Shubhamastu’s official page about team expansion and I immediately applied for it and that’s when I began my training.” Imagine convincing an entire community of people that you’re capable enough to pursue something that your male counterparts have been doing for hundreds of years. We suppose it can’t be easy. “The biggest challenge has been to persuade people that important ceremonies like Durga puja, Kali puja, or even wedding ceremonies can be performed by a female priest,” she says
Illustrations by: Vaishnavi Dukhande
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