Rtu Vidya: Ancient Science behind Menstrual Practices

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The book Rtu Vidya emerged in search of answers to questions asked by adolescent girls and women in India, during the author’s interactions with them as part of Menstrual Health workshops, conducted over a span of a decade across rural India. In an attempt to decode menstrual practices, the author undertook a journey across India and studied various indigenous knowledge systems such as Ṣaḍ-Darśana, Āyurved, Tantra, Cakra, Yōg, Āgama Śāstra, Jyotiṣa Śāstra, and several sub-texts from these categories. As a result, the book goes beyond just describing cultural practices and takes a deep dive into explaining the scientific and logical reasoning behind the origin of these practices.

The book seeks to provide answers to questions asked my many Indian women pertaining to menstruation such as the reason for certain food restrictions, physical exertion, menstrual seclusion, restrictions on touching others, avoiding cooking, not visiting temples and so on. The correct understanding of the science behind menstrual practices, as given in this book, will help women prevent menstrual difficulties, develop a positive attitude towards menstruation and learn to work in synchronization with nature’s cycles.

Rtu (pronounced as ruthu) is one of the terms for menstruation in Sanskrit. Vidya means knowledge. Rtu Vidya is the author’s attempt to bring together various indigenous knowledge systems that provide information about the science of menstruation which is relevant even to this day.

Sinu Joseph is the co-founder and managing trustee of Mythri Speaks Trust. She has done extensive action-research in the areas of Menstrual & Reproductive Health since 2009 and traveled across rural India, interacting with thousands of adolescent girls and women directly, to get a first-hand experience of menstrual practices and their impact on women's health. Stepping aside from the popular narratives which focus on menstrual products, her work has explored native methods, cultural practices around menstruation, and the science behind it. She has written extensively on unearthing the science behind native practices and bringing forth a unique narrative, which is the Bharatiya perspective on menstruation, through her blog. Rtu Vidya: Ancient Science behind Menstrual Practices is the culmination of her decade-long work on menstruation, which will equip the reader to scientifically decode cultural practices.

Every once in a while, I receive a request from menstrual researchers and activists asking me to pinpoint them to ancient texts which explain why Indian women follow certain practices such as avoiding specific types of food, cooking, touching others, or entering Hindu temples during menstruation. How I wish such information readily existed, as it would have spared me the difficult task of penning this book!

India's ancient texts have long lists of to-dos and not-to-dos prescribed for menstruating women, but rarely do they explain the reason behind this menstrual regime. That information is sacred and not revealed easily. To the one with faith, the questions never arise. To the one without faith, the answers must be earned, often through long and arduous journeys, both within and without.

The last five years of my decade-long work on menstruation have been spent on a journey traversing India and delving deep into India's indigenous sciences to piece together the varied information available on this topic. Although I read and re-read ancient texts and documents pertaining to this subject, my real understanding began only when I met and interacted with wise men and women from India. And most of all, when I myself experienced how cultural practices around menstruation, often dismissed as menstrual taboos, can help to prevent menstrual disorders.

There is a reason why such a book to decode the multitude of cultural practices around menstruation in India, through a scientific lens, has not happened before. Firstly, India's traditional knowledge systems, which form the basis of these practices, have been sidelined as 'alternate systems, and the subtle sciences that they represent have not been fully acknowledged in the modern scientific community.

Secondly. to fully grasp even the simplest cultural practice, there is a need to study diverse topics, from Ayurved to Agama Sastra, all of which would be unfamiliar to those who have only dealt with Western sciences. And thirdly, unless this knowledge is clubbed with the experience of menstruation itself, the chances of erroneously interpreting cultural practices are high, as we see in articles and books on menstruation authored by male writers, regardless of good intention. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule. In the course of my own study, some of my greatest teachers have been men who, in their own lives, have gone beyond stereotypical definitions of gender and have been able to experience the feminine in profound ways.

In the chapters of this book, readers will find explanations of many of the cultural practices around menstruation that are currently followed by women in India.

In Rtu Vidya, Sinu Joseph has gifted us a remarkably insightful book describing her own journey of understanding menstrual phenomena, a core expression of being a female human. The author does this by connecting stories of many women across India and merging her own story with theirs. Ṛtu Vidya then unfolds these connections by describing them through the lens of practices of Indian traditions based on the Vedas, including Ayurved, Jyotişa, Mantra and Tantra Śāstra.

Ṛtu Vidya follows the author's book 'Women and Sabarimala' published in 2019 (which made it to Amazon's best seller lists in Hinduism category for long periods of time), using the lens of Veda based Śästra behind the architecture of Devasthanas to describe the impact of Sabarimala on women.

For me, this book represents one of the first signals of an emerging renaissance at the lokavyavahārika level, a rebirth of a vibrant Indian culture which connects, enlivens and enables flourishing of all that makes up India - humans, animals, plants, forests, rivers, mountains. In our Śrutis, Smritis and Purāṇa all of the cosmos and all manifestations on Earth are described as having sentience. Modernity has shorn us from this core insight.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages