The festival of Raja celebrates WOMANHOOD & MENSTRUATION. It's a one of its kind festival celebrated in the mystery lands of Odisha. It is believed that Mother Earth menstruates on this day and hence to signify respect and care towards her there is no agricultural/ any other activity where the Earth is plowed or used, in order to help her with this recovery and rejuvenating process. This festival is celebrated across 4 days wherein women, especially the unmarried maiden celebrates by wearing new clothes, dressing up, playing games like ludo and cards, eating various special dishes out of which one is an authentic dish of Odisha "Poda pitha". Women are given a break from the household chores and their other daily works; men of the house take up the tasks and responsibilities
It is a celebration as well as learning that we can take from this. Respecting women has been in our traditions and culture and is reflected in many of our practices since always. However, it seems that we are forgetting our own culture in this fast process of getting ourselves updated and westernized. Feminism has been considered a western concept and hence makes it's difficult to get accepted. In my opinion, we need to Indianize Western concepts such as Feminism by making it relatable and acceptable for the entire community be it from any sphere of the society.
Women in India face stigma and discrimination when they try to seeking help for their physical or mental health needs. The woman is belittled and faces the embarrassment thrown at her for something like menstruation which is a natural process, which needs to be stopped. This can only be done by making "THE TALK" generalized hence removing the stigma associated with this.
Now talking about the mental health concerns faced by women. Women are biologically protected from mental illness and are less prone to experience mental health issues due to the presence of the hormone Estrogen, which provides a buffer for females and delays the age of onset in them. However, this hormone gets stops post menopause and hence they are prone to develop not only severe mental health issues as well as physiological illness such as breast cancer, Thus making the talk about female menstrual hygiene normalized and acceptable can help educate the girls of our country to understand their health in a better manner and take steps to prevent disease.
"A healthy WOMAN implies a health FAMILY."
#psychologydelhi#youmatter#entrepreneur#mentalhealthquotes#empathy#tiktok#counseling#delhipsychologists#business#destigmatizementalillness#addiction#indianpsychologist#art#socialdistancing#mindbodysoul#yoga#goodvibes#delhi#tarot#myths#facts#hypnotherapy#relationshipgoals#psychologyindia#genderneutrality#feminism#mentalhealthindia#odishatourism#odisha#raja #womenhood
References
Gogos, A., Sbisa, A. M., Sun, J., Gibbons, A., Udawela, M., & Dean, B. (2015). A Role for Estrogen in Schizophrenia: Clinical and Preclinical Findings.International journal of endocrinology,2015, 615356. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/615356
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