While a good percentage of the world population still shies away from talking about menstruation, an Indian state celebrates the phenomenon through a holy festival.
We are talking of Odisha, the Land of Lord Jagannath. The people of this state celebrate Rajo, Raja, or Raja Parba for three days to revere womanhood. And by that, we mean female menstruation.
The term Raja came from the Sanskrit word ‘Rajas‘, meaning menstruation, and when a woman menstruates, she is called ‘Rajaswala‘ or a menstruating woman. In medieval times, the festival became more popular as an agricultural holiday for the worship of the Earth, Lord Jagannath’s wife. As a mark of respect towards the Earth, all agricultural works come to a standstill during these days.
According to popular belief, as women menstruate, which is a sign of fertility, Mother Earth also menstruates. So the three days of the festival are considered to be the menstruating period of Mother Earth subtly signifying a woman.
Also read: This Indian State Celebrates Female Menstruation For Three Long Days Every Year
Trans women celebrate Rajo
Trans people who go through a natal estrogen-based puberty usually get their first period between 9 and 14 years of age, though people who go on hormone blockers may not ever get a period. Menstruation might continue until menopause, which can occur anywhere between 44-55 years of age.
“The transgender persons face thousands times more problems during periods. We need to have a system in place to talk about menstruation more freely with diverse gender groups. The transgender community is the less talked about group in our society and the problems they face during menstruation go unnoticed. We need to break the taboos and myths surrounding menstruation,” said Meera Parida, trans activist to Life Beyond Numbers.
With a similar motive, Meera Parida’s NGO Sakha organized Rajo Mahotsav for the transgender community where trans women took part in the celebrations.
On this day, women across Odisha dress in new clothes and ornaments and kumkum. They tuck flowers and look all pretty spending their day eating Odia sweet delicacies – Pithas – and play on the swing. Sakha NGO provided all items of Shringar to those who took part in the event. They also arranged all kinds of desserts for the invitees and decorated swings.
“If you have noticed any trans woman closely, you may have seen that they dress very gorgeously. They personally feel very beautiful despite of the divided remarks. And so even today on Rajo the trans women have dressed their best to be no less than a woman and feel even more feminine,” explained Meera.
Trans Activist Meera Parida on paid period leaves, pad box, and gender neutral toilets
The trans activist constantly emphasizes on breaking the shame around menstruation. In fact she advocates for the entire female gender including trans women and others who undergo it. She understands their pain and agony and has called for paid leaves on periods in corporate and government. Moreover, she has suggested keeping pad boxes in all toilets of schools, colleges, and offices.
“Menstruation is part of every woman and should never be a matter of shame. In deeply understand the trouble a woman or anyone who undergoes it has to go through. For the same, I call for paid period leaves in all private and government work places. Some have already started it which is to be welcomed and followed by all,” Parida said.
“I am on to launch a pad box campaign in a few days which I will propose to the government. Women often feel shy to carry pads with them while they go to the workplace and sometimes may even forget to carry it. This causes a lot of trouble while they are at work. To help them continue their work without any hesitation, the organizations can keep a pad box in the toilets to help the women. They can also arrange a room where someone suffering from menstruation can rest when in pain. This will not affect the productivity and let them work peacefully even at the office,” she added.
Meera Parida is also an advocate of gender-neutral toilets. Unisex public toilets (also referred to as gender-inclusive, gender-neutral, mixed-sex or all-gender) are public toilets that are not separated by gender or sex. The push for gender neutral bathrooms is driven by the transgender community to combat harassment and violence against them.
“This is a quintessential yet overlooked thing. It gets very much offensive and awkward at times when the likes of us use toilets that are designated to the primary genders. And so, the ones setting up public toilets or that in office and institution can put up a gender neutral sign in one of the toilets to ease the rest of us. I have been raising this for a very long time now,” Meera informed.
Also read: This Dussehra, Meet The Unseen Revelation Of The Goddess Through The Epicene Beauty Of Meera Parida