Hi I hv grown up in a traditional hindu iyer atmosphere and we used to see acharams at home. We never used to enter kitchen or pooja room on the specific three days of the month. Now i have recently settled in US, i found it is a very tougher task.My husband and his family do not follow these rituals. I do pooja and have belief in our traditions but often confused I think there should be an alternate for this regulation. Can any of you tell me : 1. why did we have this 3 days acharam in iyer traditions in olden days(i do not know about other communities) ? Is there any reason behind it ? 2)How do people who used to do this practice manage currently ? 3)Is there any specific way to do the purification ? Pl. guide me. thanks Akila
Hi Akila, This acharam is there in all hindu communities irrespective of caste an creed... I dont know about other religions(ILs, please enlighten me on this). My elders say this acharam is there for one simple reason - give some rest to the girl/woman. In olden days peple used to go to public bathrooms or rivers/ponds etc to have bath daily. Now imagine the plight of teh person on these 3 days( you know what)... thats why they used to stay without bath or much cleansing and to avoid the stinkiness they used to stay away from family members(preferably in backyard(where there will be some restroon) or seperate room called delivary/labour/3 days room). After 3 days(or 4/5 days), as there will be no more periods, the person used to cleanse herself totally (body and mind)... i mean shampooing kinds and then do regular puja(and Sun saluation in our family). Since kitchen and puja rooms are considered sacred, we cannot enter them without bath, naa. Now on these 3 days, what should be the limitations you would wonder .. since you know that the person will be weak(due to blood loss), cranky, moody, have cramps etc, she stays away from all the household activities(as there were no modern amenities like mixie/grinder, washer/dryer etc and ofcourse gas stove). Now coming to present time, I usually keep my mandiram in 2nd bedroom(which I can manage not to enter) and dont enter it these 3 days. If we r staying in 1 BR apt or if the direction of 2nd bedroom is not ok for me(eesyanam/North east), I place my mandiram in the appropriate corner(north east) and arrange my stuff so as not to enter that corner (beside dining table for e.g). And NO puja these 3 days(my husband does, ofcourse). Other than that I lead a normal life as I dont need to light a wooden stove, wash dishes with ash/brick and wash clothes sitting on bathroom floor or mop the floor with wet cloth :thumbsup and I make sure not to wear clothes which I wore on these 3 days without washing(like silk sarees etc). Its all about to what extent you can manage! I hope this will help :idea
During menses the vibrations from the body will be different that will suck more heat from the atmosphere! If the ladies go near fire the body will take more heat that will harm the woman's body. This is in Tamil nadu and in South India. This is not applicable in U.S and Europe as these are cold countries.
