Background Information
I grew up in an India where Navratri’s were, they still are, considered a sacred festival, which are a nine-day festival held in honor of the Divine feminine. The term Navratri originates from two Sanskrit words: Nava meaning “nine” and Ratri meaning “night.” As the name suggests, the festival lasts for nine nights. Navratri is dedicated to the worship of goddess Durga and her nine forms, each symbolizing different qualities such as strength, wisdom, courage, devotion, and protection. During these nine days, people pray, fast, and participate in traditional music and dance. Navratri is widely celebrated by Hindus across South Asia, particularly in India, and by the global Hindu diaspora.
In addition, celebrations like Raksha Bandhan, which is a festival that celebrates brother-sister relationships and sibling love. The term Raksha Bandhan originates from Sanskrit and translates to “bond of protection.” were norms in every Sanatan home of India, where in the sister tied the rakhi to the brother’s wrist as a bond of protection, and blessed the brother with long life and lots of love. Devi pooja is another feature of presence of the Divine feminine form in nearly every Sanatan household.
Also, Ram Leela festivals were annual features in every colony during our growing up years. This was epitomised in TV serials like Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan, an Indian Hindi-language epic television series based on ancient Indian Sanskrit Epic Ramayana. The show was created, written, and directed by Ramanand Sagar. It originally aired between 1987 and 1988 on DD National. During its run, the show became the most watched television series in the world, garnering a viewership of 82 percent. The repeat telecast was aired on 20 different channels in 17 countries on all the five continents at different times. The success of the series was documented well by the media. According to BBC, the serial has been viewed by over 650 million viewers. Each episode of the series reportedly earned DD National ₹40 lakh. Ramayan was the serial that brought out the power of Swayamwar in the normal Sanatan tradition, where-in the lady chooses the groom, irrespective of how they are brought together to meet. This tradition continues to this day. A Havan cannot be completed without the presence of both husband and wife.
The Indian Experience
Thus, India’s relationship with the idea of womanhood is not something learned from books or established by law, it is lived from childhood. Many of us grow up seeing young girls worshipped during festivals, watching rituals where women are central, and hearing stories where their role is decisive. These are not abstract ideas; they form a cultural memory that stays with us for life. Take the example of Kanya Pujan during Navratri. Young girls are revered as embodiments of the divine. Their feet are washed; they are offered food and treated with respect. The message is clear: the feminine is sacred.
Similarly, in the Ramayana, the Swayamvar of Sita is not merely a contest of strength. While the condition is set by her father, the marriage is completed only when she accepts Rama by placing the garland around his neck. Consent, even if structured, is built into the ritual.
These are not isolated examples. In traditional Hindu weddings, the sequence of rituals reinforces similar ideas. The bride’s acceptance of the groom first, through the varmala, precedes the groom’s placing of the varmala around her. The marriage is solemnised by the parents through a ritual of kanyadaan in the presence of the sacred fire. This is not just ceremonial, it carries meaning. The woman is not absent from the process; she is central to its completion.
Lived Reality: Complementary Roles
For many in India, marriage has traditionally been arranged within a family framework. Meetings happen, both individuals are given a chance to accept or reject, and often the final decision rests on mutual comfort. In our own experience, this balance was visible; families facilitated the match, both had a veto, and the rituals reaffirmed acceptance
Beyond
the ceremony, roles were defined by practical considerations; one partner
focused on the home, the other on earning to keep the household functional, as
needed. This division was not always seen as unequal, but as complementary,
based on perceived strengths and needs. This model functioned for long periods
because it aligned with economic realities, social structures, and biological
roles.
The Distortion: When Balance Shifted
However, this balance did not remain stable. Over centuries, especially during periods of instability, society faced repeated disruptions through invasions, insecurity, breakdown of local order, etc. In such times, communities tend to become defensive. Women, being central to family and lineage, came to be seen as bearers of honour. Protection became a priority, but gradually, protection turned into restriction, and sometimes oppression too.
This led to disparaging practices against women, such as child marriage, seclusion, denial of property rights, and in extreme cases Sati and female infanticide. These were not part of the original philosophical and cultural framework of the land. These abhorrent practices were responses to fear, which over time became normalized and were even justified.
The Bhakti movement: Organic Correction
Indian society did not remain silent in the face of these distortions. The Bhakti movement emerged as a powerful internal corrective. Saints like Guru Nanak Dev ji questioned the declining status of women in clear terms. His famous line asking why a woman should be considered inferior, when she gives birth to kings, was a direct challenge to prevailing attitudes. Bhakti did not rely on laws. It worked through making people aware of the ills and by emphasising spiritual equality and the direct connection of everything with the Divine, as also by rejection of the rigid hierarchies being experienced in the society. It reminded society of something it had begun to forget, wherein it was emphasised that dignity is inherent in Creation and is not granted by social structures.
Modern Law: A Necessary Intervention
The above process had its inherent limitations in that it takes generations to reverse to reverse social customs and traditions organically. By the time of Indian independence on 15 Aug 1947, some distortions had become too deeply entrenched to be corrected through the gradual organic change alone. The modern Indian state, influenced partly by global thinking and institutions like the United Nations, introduced legal reforms, which included abolition of Sati, laws against child marriage, and prohibition of female infanticide. Reforms in inheritance and property rights were also enacted to restore the dignity of women. These laws were not an abandonment of tradition, but a necessary intervention where society had failed to self-correct in a reasonable period. Unlike Bhakti, which appealed to conscience and were not enforceable by law, legislation and laws enforced accountability.
India Today: A Layered Reality
India today operates with multiple overlapping layers, with a cultural memory that teaches reverence for the feminine and with rituals that emphasise the centrality of the feminine. However, the historical residue of lingering social biases have led to uneven implementation of equality.
The modern legal framework provides rights-based protections and is working to increase participation of women in all spheres of life. These layers do not always align perfectly, but together they shape the current reality.
Are We Imitating the West?
A common concern is whether India is simply adopting Western models of gender equality. There is some truth to the observation that modern reforms are more top-down
driven
by law and policy. However, this does not mean they are misplaced. In many
cases, waiting for slow, organic changes would have prolonged injustice. Legal intervention
was both necessary and justified.
At the same time, India’s strength has always been its ability to absorb external ideas while retaining its civilizational core.
Where Are We Headed?
India today stands at an interesting point. Women are increasingly visible in education, work force in nearly all sectors, leadership positions in important places, and now even in the defence forces.
Surprisingly, we have had a head of government much earlier than most countries of the world, including the US.
At the same time, family structures remain important and cultural practices continue, as earlier. The challenge is to ensure that equality does not become uniformity; and tradition does not become the justification for inequality.
Conclusion
India’s journey on the question of women is not a straight line. It is a continuous process of balance, imbalance, and correction. From childhood rituals like Kanya Pujan to epics like the Ramayana, to personal experiences of marriage, there is a thread that runs through, which recognises that women are central to everything and not peripheral. Yet, history shows that this recognition can weaken under pressure, and when it does, correction becomes necessary, whether through spiritual movements like Bhakti, or through the enaction of modern law, and its rigid enforcement.
Final Thought
India does not need to choose between tradition and modernity. Its real task is to ensure that its ancient respect for the feminine is reflected not just in ritual, but in everyday reality, and in case there is a mismatch between reality and the intent of the cultural rituals, then modern law should provide the necessary backup to ensure equality, as has been given in our visionary Constitution. As on date, we still have much work to be done, and this should be treated as an ongoing project in which upliftment of the women should come through organically, as well as through re-enforcement, when necessary, by enactment of legislation and modern law.
Comments