Menstruation celebration

Last updated

A menstruation celebration, first moon party, or period party, celebrates menstruation. [1] [2] [3] Different cultures and communities across the globe celebrate Menarche (first period). [4] This practice is followed by Apache, Ojibwe and Hupa tribal communities from different parts of North America, Ulithi tribe from South Pacific region, Japan, Africa, and India among others. [5] [6]

Contents

United States

In 2020, Parents writer Christine Michel Carter researched the celebration of first moon parties in the Black community in the United States. [7] Most girls get their first menstrual cycle between 12 and 13 years old, according to The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The age of menstruation onset is slightly younger for Black girls due to health disparities, increased material hardship, and levels of stress. For Black girls, the first moon party is a rite of passage that instills values, principles, and knowledge of a young girls' self. [7]

India

Different states/regions and communities in India celebrate menstruation.

Odisha [8]

The festival in Odisha is called Raja Parba or Mithuna Sankranti. It is a four-day festival which celebrates the girl's transition into womanhood. The first-day is called Pahili Raja, second Mithuna Sankranti, third Basi Raja and the last day is called Vasumati Snana. It is believed that Goddess Earth also menstruates during the first three days of the festival. Prior to day of the celebration, called Sajabaja , entire house is cleaned and on the first three days of the festival the spices are ground on the grinding stone. While all the preparation is going on, women enjoy during the festival and wear new clothes, jewellery and put alta (a red/pink coloured liquid applied on feet and hands) on their feet. On the last day of the festival, women go to the grinding stone and bathe in turmeric. The festival is completed with the ritual bath of Goddess Bhudevi.

Assam [9]

In Assam, the menstruation celebration is called Toloni Biya/ Tuloni Biya/ Nua-tulon/Santi Biya. The word Biya in Assamese means marriage, thus, Toloni Biya is a ceremonial symbolic wedding of the girl after her first periods. This ceremony (symbolic wedding) is celebrated with great enthusiasm, and the purpose of this celebration is to educate the girl about reproduction and menstrual cycle. The parents of the girl and neighbours pray for the well-being of her reproductive health.

In addition to the celebration, the ceremony also secludes the girl and imposes restrictions on her movements and food preferences, such as; being brought home in a with a veil (face covering), no food other than bananas, confined to a room, no contact with men including family members.

Apache Sunrise Dance Ceremony

The Sunrise Dance ceremony is a celebration of menarche by the Apache tribal community in Arizona and Mexico region. [10] [11] The community members and leaders assist the family in carrying out this ceremony. The community starts preparing for this ceremony months before. A day prior to the ceremony, the girl takes a sweat bath, meanwhile the male relatives and a medicine man (a healer) make the items that will be required during the ceremony. In the evening, these items are presented to the girl.[ citation needed ]

The ceremony takes place over a period of four-days and in eight stages. During this ceremony, the girl wears the traditional Apache attire and dances, which signifies female strength. The friends and family also participate and sing traditional songs and the girl also receives a massage and the ceremonial blessing from the medicine man and other people.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menstruation</span> Shedding of the uterine lining

Menstruation is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized by the rise and fall of hormones. Menstruation is triggered by falling progesterone levels, and is a sign that pregnancy has not occurred.

Menarche is the first menstrual cycle, or first menstrual bleeding, in female humans. From both social and medical perspectives, it is often considered the central event of female puberty, as it signals the possibility of fertility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pongal (festival)</span> Tamil Hindu harvest festival

Pongal, also referred to as Thai Pongal, is a multi-day Hindu harvest festival celebrated by Tamils. It is observed in the month of Thai according to the Tamil solar calendar and usually falls on 14 or 15 January. It is dedicated to Surya and corresponds to Makar Sankranti, the Hindu observance celebrated under many regional names throughout the Indian subcontinent. The festival is celebrated over three or four days with Bhogi, Surya Pongal, Mattu Pongal and Kanum Pongal, observed on consecutive days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Makar Sankranti</span> Hindu festival that reveres Surya (sun god)

Makar(a) Sankranti, also referred to as Uttarayana, Makar, or simply Sankranti, is a Hindu observance and a festival. Usually falling on the date of 14 January annually, this occasion marks the transition of the sun from the zodiac of Sagittarius (dhanu) to Capricorn (makara). Since the sun has made this transition which vaguely coincides with moving from south to north, the festival is dedicated to the solar deity, Surya, and is observed to mark a new beginning. Many native multi-day festivals are organised on this occasion all over India.

Sankranti refers to the transmigration of the sun from one zodiac to another in Indian astronomy. In Saurmanavarsha, there are twelve Sankrantis corresponding with twelve months of a year. The Sankrantis can be broadly classified into four main categories: Ayan (Solstice), Vishuva (Equinox), Vishnupadi and Shadshitimukhi sankrantis.

<i>Quinceañera</i> Celebration of a girls 15th birthday

A quinceañera is a celebration of a girl's 15th birthday that is common in Mexican and other Latin American cultures. The girl celebrating her 15th birthday is a quinceañera. In Latin America, the term quinceañera is reserved solely for the honoree; in English, primarily in the United States, the term is used to refer to the celebrations and honors surrounding the special occasion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture and menstruation</span>

There are many cultural aspects surrounding how societies view menstruation. Different cultures view menstruation in different ways. The basis of many conduct norms and communication about menstruation in western industrial societies is the belief that menstruation should remain hidden. By contrast, in some indigenous hunter-gatherer societies, menstrual observances are viewed in a positive light, without any connotation of uncleanness. In most of India, menarche is celebrated as a rite of passage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maghe Sankranti</span> Annual Nepali festival

Maghe Sankranti is a Nepali festival observed on the first of Magh in the Vikram Sambat (B.S) or Yele calendar bringing an end to the winter solstice containing month of Poush. Tharu people celebrate this particular day as new year. It is also regarded as the major government declared annual festival of the Magar community. Maghe Sankranti is similar to solstice festivals in other religious traditions.

This article lists the traditional festivals and other cultural events in the Odisha region of India. Odisha celebrates 13 festivals in 12 months as the saying goes Bāra Māsare Tera Parba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuakhai</span> Festival in India

Nuakhai is an agricultural festival mainly observed by people of Western Odisha in India. Nuakhai is observed to welcome the new rice of the season. According to the calendar it is observed on panchami tithi of the lunar fortnight of the month of Bhadrapada or Bhadraba (August–September), the day after the Ganesh Chaturthi festival. This is the most important social festival of Western Odisha and Chhattishgarh also adjoining areas of Simdega in Jharkhand, where the culture of Western Odisha is much predominant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ambubachi Mela</span> Annual Hindu mela (gathering) held at Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, Assam

The Ambubachi Mela is an annual Hindu mela (gathering) held at Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati, Assam. This yearly mela is celebrated during the monsoon season that happens to fall during the Assamese month Ahaar, around the middle of June when the sun transits to the zodiac of Mithuna, when the Brahmaputra River is in spate. During this time Brahmaputra River near the temple turns Red for three days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ritu Kala Samskaram</span> Hindu rite of passage for young female

Ritu Kala Samskara, or Ritushuddhi, is a female coming-of-age ritual in South Indian Hindu traditions. The ritual is performed when a girl wears a langa voni for the first time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raja (festival)</span> Festival of Odisha

Raja Parba, also known as Mithuna Sankranti, is a three-day-long festival of womanhood celebrated in Odisha, India. The second day of the festival signifies beginning of the solar month of Mithuna, from which the season of rains starts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alta (dye)</span> Red dye applied to hands and feet during weddings and festivals

Alta, lakshaya rasa, alah, or mahavar is a red dye mainly used in the Indian subcontinent to tint the hands and feet of women as a cultural practice. It is usually applied with a cotton swab or brush during wedding ceremonies and festivals.

Here is a list of glossary of culture of India in alphabetical order:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menstruation hut</span> Room or structure for menstruating women

A menstruation hut is a place of seclusion or isolation used by certain cultures with strong menstrual taboos. The same or a similar structure may be used for childbirth and postpartum confinement, based on beliefs around ritual impurity. These huts are usually built near the family home, have small doors, and are often dilapidated, with poor sanitation and ventilation, and no windows. The Nepali version, the Chhaupadi, is probably the best-known example, but cultural attitudes towards menstruation around the world mean that these huts exist, or existed until recently, in other places as well. The use of menstrual huts continues to be a cause of death, from exposure, dehydration, snake bite, smoke inhalation, and so on. The use of these huts is illegal in some places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuloni biya</span>

Tuloni biya, also referred to as Xoru Biya, Nua-tuloni, or Santi Biya, is a traditional Assamese Hindu ceremony that marks the attainment of puberty in girls and celebrates the girl's transition from childhood to womanhood. The Tuloni biya, which translates to "small wedding", is accompanied by a multitude of rituals and traditions, all rooted in the concepts of purity and separation.

The marriage in pre-Columbian America was a social institution present in most cultures and civilizations inhabiting the American continent before 1492. The perceptions and conceptions at a social level varied, with wedding ceremonies often carrying a predominant religious and spiritual significance. Some unions were even regarded as sacred and could be either monogamous or polygamous. These relationships mainly operated within a predominantly patriarchal system and were typically associated within the same caste, when such a social organization system existed.

References

  1. ↑ "Would You Ever Throw Your Child a Period Party for Their First Cycle? Because That's a Thing Now". 14 December 2019. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  2. ↑ "Blood! Yay! Period parties are now a thing". 31 January 2019. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  3. ↑ "Would You Plan a 'Period Party' for Your Daughter?". Archived from the original on 2021-05-11. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  4. ↑ Lacroix, Amy E.; Gondal, Hurria; Shumway, Karlie R.; Langaker, Michelle D. (2024), "Physiology, Menarche", StatPearls, Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing, PMID   29261991 , retrieved 2024-09-18
  5. ↑ "Period celebrations around the world | ellaOne®". ellaone UK. Archived from the original on 2023-03-04. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  6. ↑ Brink, Susan (11 August 2015). "Some Cultures Treat Menstruation With Respect". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  7. 1 2 "The Empowering Way Black Moms Are Celebrating Their Daughters' First Periods". Parents. Archived from the original on 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  8. ↑ "This interesting festival of Odisha celebrates menstruation". The Times of India. ISSN   0971-8257. Archived from the original on 2023-03-04. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  9. ↑ "Assamese Toloni Biya, Tuloni Biya, Nua-tuloni-biya, Santi Biya". www.assaminfo.com. Archived from the original on 2023-03-04. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  10. ↑ "Arizona: White Mountain Apache | PWNA Resources". www.nativepartnership.org. Archived from the original on 2023-03-04. Retrieved 2023-03-04.
  11. ↑ "Apache Sunrise Ceremonial". www.crosscurrents.hawaii.edu. Archived from the original on 2023-03-04. Retrieved 2023-03-04.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.