Women in Mangalore take oath to defy ‘widow rites’

In another reformative move, the Kudroli Gokarnanatha Temple in Mangalore has administered an oath to over 5,000 married women to defy the ‘widow rites’ — they will wear bindis, retain their mangalasutra, wear colourful sarees, bangles and wear flowers in their pleats even after the deaths of their husbands.

“Losing the husband is a gruesome thing, but women should go on with their lives as normal human beings. Mangalsutra is a sign of protection and if they remove it after his death, it will expose them to bad elements. Our society believes that a woman who has lost her husband should keep all the features of a ‘sumangali’ and lead a normal life,” said B Janardhana Poojary, head of the Kudroli Gokarnatha temple.

“Earlier, the temple took another step of granting widows their rights to perform poojas and participate in religious functions. This temple owes its existence to the great spirit of socio-religious reformation as taught by 18th century reformer saint Sree Narayana Guru and we are only continuing it,” added Poojary.