The new Travancore Devaswom Board President, Prayar Gopalakrishnan, who took charge just two days ago has sparked up a controversy on the issue of menstruating women being impure and unclean, hence are not allowed to enter the Sabarimala temple, which has aroused the ire of women across Kerala state.

The Sabarimala temple in Kerala is one of the largest pilgrimage places in India. The temple is supposed to worship the Hindu God Ayyapan who is sacred to all Indians, particularly in South India.

The temple has plenty of stringent rules which the pilgrims follow subconsciously. One of the rules is that women between the age of 12 and 50 are not allowed inside the temple. The legend goes that the deity Ayyapan was a celibate and hence menstruating women are not allowed in the temple. Even the devotees of the temple are supposed to follow the strict rules that forbid alcohol, non-veg food, conversing or looking at women, or even coming in contact with women who are menstruating, tobacco, engaging in sex, using foul language, haircut, shaving and even trimming the nails. It is expected of them to bath twice daily, visit local temples regularly and wear only plain blue or black clothes

Prayar Gopalkrishnan went further with his absolutely sexist remark that said:

“A time will come when people will ask if all women should be disallowed from entering the temple throughout the year. These days there are machines that can scan bodies and check for weapons. There will be a day when the machine is invented to scan if it is the ‘right time’ (not menstruating) for a woman to enter the temple. When that machine is invented, we will talk about letting women inside.”

He longs for a “purity machine” that can scan the women to let everyone know that they are on their period so that they will not be allowed inside.

Gopalakrishnan’s comment quickly gained friction and a Facebook page that goes by the name of ‘Happy To Bleed’ came into action against the comments made by him and also against the menstrual taboos in general. It acknowledges menstruation as a natural activity which doesn’t need curtains to hide behind.

It also urged women to hold placards/sanitary napkins/charts saying Happy To Bleed, take their pictures, upload it to their profiles, and send it to them, in order to oppose the shame game played by patriarchal society since ages.

Lawyer Sudha Ramalingam and poet and activist Ravi Shankar talked about the number of men who actually ‘cheat’ while adhering to the strict rules mentioned above and said that “There could also be a machine that scans and finds out whether men have led a celibate, teetotaler, vegetarian life for 41 days before entering the temple. This will help to reduce the crowd by 90 per cent.”

Why is this man so hung up on menstruation? People must first understand what woman and womanhood is and must talk with sensitivity.