5 Lesser Known ‘First Period Rituals’ From Different Parts Of India

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5. West Bengal- Now, this is an encounter narrated to me by a friend who faced this ritual when she got her first period. She belongs to the community of Ghoti bengalis.



Both of them were not allowed to touch any boys during that time, including their own fathers or brothers. On the 7th day, a ***** comes over to conduct a Puja. He offers the girl a concoction of cow’s urine and stool mixed with milk to eat as prasad, in order to purify her.


ther instances of these rituals are found to be common in a lot of communities where the girl is not allowed to touch homemade pickles or raw papad. She is also required to take care of her own food as no one is allowed to serve her food, not to forget that she is made to sleep in a separate room on a mat on the floor and not allowed to enter the temple or Puja ghar in the house.

Period rituals are a celebration of femininity all over the world and they were made to give women time, to rest their bodies during a vulnerable stage. While many of these rituals are regressive, a change is certainly underway as people have become more aware.