Most cultures across the world mark transition from one stage of life to another with celebrations. In early childhood, each transition comes hard on the heels of the previous: from birth to the first bit of solid food to learning one’s letters. The transition into adolescence also marks a relative decline in the rate of these celebrations: traditionally, puberty—which commenced significantly later in ancient and even early modern populations—signified an entrance into the trials of adulthood. Young men would be expected to simultaneously engage in martial and philosophical education, while young women would be expected to attain the skills of a competent householder as well as continue in ritual education.
It is important to note that—even now—these rituals are not strictly religious in nature: the attainment of a driver’s license or a voter’s ID is linked to legal coming-of-age in most nation-states, and can therefore be called secular iterations of these rituals. Enrolment in an institution of higher education is also similarly perceived.
However, traditional coming-of-age ceremonies continue to be linked to the initiation of puberty, even as the associated biological processes begin earlier and earlier. In AMAB individuals, these rituals are often cued by voice mutation (as spermarche is relatively difficult to trace); in AFAB individuals, menarche is treated as a cue for these rituals, which may involve isolation, purificatory baths, the consumption of ritual foods and prayer (for adolescents of all genders.)
Coming of Age around the World
In Indonesia, boys of the Nias island are expected to jump over a large stone as part of their coming-of-age ceremony: the jump is called Hombo Batu and marks the readiness of an adolescent for martial training. Hindus of both genders living in Bali, Indonesia, have their canine teeth filed by a priest to mark the cessation of wild childhood and entry into civilized ritual adulthood: for boys, this process—Metatah—is cued by voice mutation and in girls by menarche.
Among the Navaho tribe of North America, menarche is marked by the Kinaalda, which occurs over several days and consists of music and communal meals as well as a symbolic reshaping and readying of the adolescent for the trials of womanhood: the menstruator runs east for several days, partakes in preparation of corn meal by the adult women, and has her hair ritually washed and dressed.
The Zulu people celebrate the coming of age of female adolescents through the Umemulo, which marks their transition into womanhood, as cued by menarche; however, the ritual may occur at any age between 13-21. After several days of isolation and a ritual bath, the young menstruator is dressed in traditional Zulu pleated attire (notably the pleated skirt and hat) and armed with a cowhide shield and spear, which she throws when in front of her home. The father steps out to retrieve the spear and embraces his daughter, after which communal dance and feasting begin.
Coming of Age in India
In India, the coming-of-age ceremony is one of the many samskaras or sacraments that are undergone by Hindus of all genders, and which in some sense delineate the individual’s position in society. Thus, infants of all genders undergo the rituals of Namakarana, Annaprashana, and Chudakaran, especially if they belong to observant Hindu households; while Upanayana is reserved for upper-caste Hindu boys, most regional cultures also mark the first moment of literacy for children of all genders through Aksharabhyasam/Vidyarambham, which is dedicated to Saraswati. For AMAB children, the coming-of-age ceremony is called Keshanta and involves ritual shaving and the dedication of a cow to the officiating priest and/or potential teacher. For AFAB children, the corresponding ritual is dubbed Ritusuddhi or Ritukala Samskaram and is marked at menarche.
Menstruation is a taboo topic in everyday life in India, and menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is an uphill struggle for individuals and groups invested in it. As such, the idea of centering and celebrating such a hush-hush process might seem strange at first, but it must be remembered that menstruation is significant in many Hindu belief systems and that these rituals traditionally mark a transition into adulthood (and therefore marriageability) for AFAB individuals. In North India, especially in sub-cultures where child marriage was a prolific practice and often still persists, menarche is marked by the Gauna ceremony, after which the bride—often still legally underage—is considered of age to shift to her marital home and becomes sexually active. As such, the focus is rarely on the process of menstruation, but on the implications of adulthood and fertility: on becoming a woman rather than on vaginal bleeding. Gauna, while related to menarche, is considered a marital ceremony. There are, however, multiple ceremonies in Indian cultures which celebrate the coming of age (marked through menarche) of unmarried AFAB adolescents. The following list primarily pertains to South and North-East Indian ceremonies: please comment below to tell us of any ceremonies observed in other states that we might have missed!
Karapathavani
This is a ceremony observed by the Bunt community of Karnataka. The Bunts are a Tulu-speaking community originally resident in coastal Karnataka; while primarily Hindu, significant Jain influence can be spotted in many of their cultural rituals. The menarchal girl—Madimal—is ritually bathed and richly dressed and bejeweled by the women of her community. This is followed by her cooking rice in kara and offering it to her guests, who in turn offer blessings and gifts. Notably, this is a strictly-feminine ritual, with the men of the community—or even the immediate family of the young menstruator—uninvolved in the process.
Laiming Louba
Laiming Louba is an initiation and coming-of-age ceremony observed by the Meitei people of Manipur; it is part of Sanamahi Lailing Lup as well as Vaishnavism followed by several groups. The initiation can occur anytime after adolescents of all genders have attained puberty; while it is not mandatory, Meitei folk cannot attain cultural adulthood unless they have undergone this ceremony and are unable to participate in any religious ritual including marriage. The ceremony is conducted by a priest who guides the adolescent through a series of prayers and offers a consecrated multi-thread strand to the initiate’s parent-of-the-same-gender, who ties it around the neck of the child, thereby admitting them into the religio-cultural community into which they were born.
Manjal Neerattu Viztha
This ceremony—literally Turmeric Bathing Ceremony—marks the transition into puberty of Hindu Tamil girls. After a period of isolation in a menstruation hut—during which she is further trammeled with restrictions about diet and movement—the young menstruator is ritually purified through a puniya-thanam involving (usually) community help from her post-pubertal female relatives, and allowed to mingle with people of all genders. The ceremony starts with a procession—flanked by musicians—to the local temple, where prayers and offerings are dedicated; this is followed by gift-giving from her matrilineal uncle and general feasting. The young menstruator changes from the half-saree of childhood into the full-saree of an adult woman, and is welcomed into womanhood by her female relatives, who anoint her with red and yellow turmeric and symbolically offer her instruments of femininity and fertility.
Pavadai Dhavani/Langa Voni/Langa Davani
The coming-of-age ceremony in many South Indian cultures is intimately linked to the designated apparel of adolescence and adulthood, to the point where the garment gives its name to the ritual: the half-saree ceremony. The half-saree is presented by matrilinear relatives to AFAB children for every significant ritual starting from the Namakarana to the Ritusuddhi; during the latter, the young menstruator changes from the pavadai/langa dhavani into a saree gifted by patrilinear relatives: typically, her grandparents. This change of attire is as essential to the ceremony as the ritual bath and meal, as it serves as an external signifier of the new stage of life attained with menarche. In some cultures, the change is from a skirt-blouse to the half-saree, which allows the adolescent to veil her torso; for Marathis, the onset of puberty is colloquially signified through the attainment of the padar.
Peddamanishi Pandaga
Also known as Prathama Raja Niyamalu, this coming-of-age ceremony is celebrated by the Telugu people in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with great pomp during the first, fifth, and final days of a girl’s menarche. On the first day of menarche, the young menstruator is bathed by five women of her community—excluding her mother—and then kept isolated for the following three days: she is supplied with separate utensils and mattresses during this time. On the fifth day, the girl takes a ritually-purifying bath (partially) in turmeric water, and sprinkles it over everything she has touched during the preceding days while chanting a sloka. After the conclusion of menarche, the menstruator is considered part of adult society and receives gifts of clothing, jewelry, and other objects readying her for her future.
Teptsü Atep
Teptsü Atep is one of the various rites that signify the onset of puberty for girls of the Ao Naga community. As this tribe treats puberty as a cultural construct, there isn’t as much ritual emphasis on menarche. Instead, the AFAB adolescents of a village undergo the coming-of-age ceremonies with others of their age-cohort. Teptsü Atep is a process of tattooing which is begun when a child is about ten years old, and goes on for five years during the winter months, with adolescents moving into dormitories after its completion. It must be noted that the prevalence of Christianity among the Ao people has led to this puberty ritual largely being in abeyance in the past decades, perhaps because of a conflation with the tattoos the Naga men earned through martial deeds. However, increasing mainstream acceptance of tattooing as an aesthetic practice, combined with a Naga yearning for traditional culture, seems poised to rejuvenate these practices.
Thirandukalyanam
Thirandukalyanam is the coming-of-age ceremony performed by several caste groups in Kerala on the occasion of menarche. On the first day of menarche, the young menstruator is given a deep massage and ritually cleansed before being sealed into a windowless room where she has to spend three nights without seeing the stars; during this time, she is given a special diet rich in iron and ayurvedic medicines to bolster her health. On the cessation of her period, she is communally bathed by older female relatives with turmeric paste, and her hair is washed with hibiscus extract; traditionally, the upper-caste adolescent would first don her moolakkacha at this point. After this, the adolescent, in whom the Goddess Bhagavathi is assumed to be seated, is brought into the main household and instructed in all the rites and duties of her maidenhood. As with the other ceremonies of this kind, the community is feasted to mark the occasion, and gifts of clothing, jewelry, and wealth are presented to the young menstruator: traditionally this would serve as part of her wedding trousseau. The prominence of the thirandukalyanam in Kerala might be partially attributed to the matrilineality of the dominant Nair group, for whom menarche would signify not only the onset of an adolescent’s fertility but her training to become the matriarch of the household.
Tuloni Biya
Menarche is marked with the ceremony of Tuloni Biya among Assamese Hindus: initially confined to the Tai Ahom people, it has since become a practice of other communities as well. This ritual, which is also called Shanti Biya or Nua Tuloni, marks the upliftment of the young menstruator from childhood to physical and cultural maturity; there is scholarly speculation identifying it with the second stage of the traditional Aag Biya and Paas Biya that would occur before and after menstruation. As pre-pubertal children are no longer married off as a prolific practice, Tuloni Biya—unlike Gauna—is treated as a pubertal ritual, for all that it involves a mock-wedding. The young menstruator is confined for the first few days of her menarche and forbidden to consume solid cooked food; nor is she allowed to touch any individual or object. On the fourth day, the adolescent is bathed with maah-haldi and dressed in mekhela-sador, thus declaring her an adult through attire; a banana tree is planted at the site. From the fourth to the seventh day of menarche, the menstruator is allowed to consume hobbis once daily, preferably cooked by herself. On the seventh day (or any other selected as auspicious by the officiating priest) the adolescent is again taken to the bathing site, this time accompanied by the women of the community at large, and bathed again while biya naam are sung and prayers offered by the onlookers. The procession goes on to the girl’s home—banana tree and all—and wedding rituals are observed, followed by the feast and gift-giving also noted in other celebrations.
It is tempting to declare these ceremonies entirely regressive or entirely empowering, but of course, the powerful ambiguity of all menstrual rites attaches to these as well. It may be noticed even from such short descriptions that concepts of isolation and pollution/purification are central to many of these observances; further, the traditional links between puberty and marriageability linger in the similarity of these rites to those of marriage. The change of attire and restrictions on movement simultaneously isolate the menstruator and announce her puberty to the community, even without communal celebrations. At the same time, these ceremonies may pave the way to self-assertion by young menstruators, and certainly offer a contrast to the whispers and rumors around the process of menstruation; the common belief that these rituals were designed to provide a platform for conversations about menstrual practices and hygiene cannot be either substantiated or dismissed.
Notably, divine menstruation is significant for the Shakta traditions of Assam and Odisha, where Mithuna Sankranti is celebrated as the menstrual period of Goddesses Kamakshya and Bhudevi respectively. Both—Ambubachi in Assam and Raja Parba in Odisha—are marked with festivities as well as the cessation of all work to allow the earth to partake in the ritual rest of a menstruator. Among the Tulu-speaking people—including the aforementioned Bunt community—this festival is called Keddasa and is observed during February. Several Hindu traditions—primarily but not exclusively Shakta, Tantric, and Baul sub-groups—go a step further and attribute paranormal qualities to menstruators, particularly in menarche. This may result in women of menstruating age being banned from entering temples or being forbidden to touch culinary or devotional utensils. However, it may also result in the prominence given to ritual intercourse with a menstruator, or the ritual consumption of menarchal discharge, as seen in some Baul and Tantric groups. In both cases, menstruation is seen as disruptive and menarche is a moment of spiritual as well as social significance which is necessarily ceremonially marked.
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