Why the Shani Temple Row doesn't Stir Me As a Feminist?

I believe firmly in the idea of gender-equality. Yet I am not too exercised by the latest row between the Shani Shingnapur temple authorities and a group of female activists that go by the name of Bhumata Ranragini Brigade (BRB). In order to defy the centuries old convention that prohibits women to enter the inner sanctum of the temple, members of this group tried to march into the temple on 26^th January. The group had to be hemmed in by the police.

Ideally, as a feminist, this regressive practice should have me outraged. But, leaving politically correctness aside for a bit, it doesn’t. Because this ostensible discrimination isn’t universal. It isn’t as though all the Hindu temples disallow entry to women. Only a very few temples do. There are also temples and rituals which are meant only for the women-folk, and men are disallowed to participate in them. For every temple where a woman isn’t allowed, there are fifty where she is.

The idea of gender-based discrimination on the basis of allowing/disallowing entry in the area of worship is complicated by the polytheistic nature of Hinduism. Unlike other monotheistic religions that believe in concept of only one God, Hinduism has an assortment of Gods and Goddesses. There are sthal-devtas, gram-devtas, kul-devtas etc. and corresponding devis (demigoddesses). And like us, these gods and goddesses have their own set of idiosyncrasies and preferences. Shiva is offered Bel-patra, while Vishnu is offered Tulsi. To say that in a Shiv temple Tulsi is being discriminated against, because Tulsi is feminine, may sound a bit odd. Many of the temples are centuries old and have legends and myths associated with their respective deities and their origins, owing to which there are different rituals and traditions, some of which may favour men while others may favour women.

This is not to shy away from the fact that religion is been historically used as tool by the dominant sections of the society force the rest into submission. Many of the religious practices are blatantly patriarchal and utterly regressive (say, Karwa-chauth). And they must be questioned and fought against, by all means. But to squabble over such issues as trying to gain entry into an area which is not designed for one’s gender may actually seem like a waste of one’s energy. Why should you as a girl demand a right to enter an all-boy’s school? This by no means should sound like a defense of gender-specific institutions. My submission is that we must try to channelize our energies in trying to build and promote gender-neutral institutions, rather than trying to demolish the few antiquated ones that exist. But let us not take away the right of people to engage with a gender-specific institution. They are as much entitled to be part of one as you are entitled to build and promote a gender-neutral one.

And if this issue were actually about barring of women in a school, or any other institution (say, the parliament or the judiciary) that could really empower them, I would have fervently denounced such a practice. But does entering a temple whose God isn’t too fond of you (as the priests would have you believe) really empower you? We need to step back and reassess the whole argument. If it’s about the right to pray, then I would ask: why do you even want to pray to a God that isn’t willing to grant you an audience because of your gender? Aren’t there other more inclusive and friendlier Gods? We are Hindus—we have no dearth of variety of Gods to choose from. If my God/Goddess doesn’t like me, I don’t like them too. I go to the one that likes me. As simple as that! If you say that it’s not the God who is disfavouring you but the priests (who are almost always men) and that you want to explore the spiritual connect you feel with that God, then I would say, that’s how religion has always worked. What your Gods wants will always be told to you by someone acting as an interface. You will always get mediated and filtered responses/commands from your Gods(/Goddesses).

 And in such case there’s little point in seeking an entry in such a system to become a part of it. You will instead be better off questioning the very system and breaking away from it. You don’t have to physically enter a place to explore your spiritual connection— if you believe in such a thing, and if you don’t, then why fuss? 

Can we, as feminists, not focus our energies on educating our daughters and instilling a rational temperament in them, if they are not killed in the wombs, that is?