Hindu Priests Serving in Australia
We have tried our best to collect a database of all the Hindu priests serving in Australia. Some of the priests are full-time and others are part-time only. The priests all come from different backgrounds, India, Srilanka, Nepal, Fiji etc.
Categories of Hindu Priests
There are three categories of Hindu Priests:--
1. Archakas — these are specially trained and consecrated priests who serve in temples. Some temple committees allow the archaks to perform sacraments (samskaras) domestic pujas and ceremonies for the public in the spare-time. Temnple priests never perform any ceremony connected with death, funerals, sraddhas etc. 2. Purohits — those who work as general practitioners within the community performing sacraments, pujas, yajñas, teaching, counselling etc. Traditionally purohits have been divided into two sub-groups:--
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Can Women Become Priests?
Panditani Chitra Lele — Marathi Priestess
There is no Scriptural reason why women should not become piests. It has never been a tradition in India, whereas in Bali female priests have been common for centuries. In the Balinese priestly families the wife of a priest frequently accompanies her husband in the performance of rituals. Nowadays there are a number of institutes in India which currently train women in priestcraft. Both in Pune and Varanasi these institutes can be found.
Formal Training in Women's School
Pune's revolution to allow women into the priesthood began in the early 1980s, when Shankarrao Thatte — owner of a premier marriage hall in the city, the Udyan Karyalaya — launched the Shankar Seva Samiti, a school to train female priests.
The casual approach of the male priests toward the rituals and ceremonies prompted Thatte to start four-month training courses for women. Today, Pune has two schools for female priests, Thatte's Shankar Seva Samiti and Jnana Prabodhini.
Vishwanath Gurjar, who heads the priesthood division of Jnana Prabodhini, says that women have an equal right to "moksha," the Hindu concept of the liberation of the soul from the continual cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth. According to him, there is nothing in the scriptures to suggest that women are not equal to men.
Says Gurjar: "It is only the mindset of people that stops them from accepting women in certain roles." His school started out with three-month courses for female priests and has since expanded to eight months. So far, 12 classes of 30 to 35 students each have completed the course.
For more news on female Hindu Priests click here — Hindu Priestesses
http://www.dw.de/female-hindu-priests-in-india-are-making-strides-in-a-male-dominated-profession
Formal Training in Women's School
Pune's revolution to allow women into the priesthood began in the early 1980s, when Shankarrao Thatte — owner of a premier marriage hall in the city, the Udyan Karyalaya — launched the Shankar Seva Samiti, a school to train female priests.
The casual approach of the male priests toward the rituals and ceremonies prompted Thatte to start four-month training courses for women. Today, Pune has two schools for female priests, Thatte's Shankar Seva Samiti and Jnana Prabodhini.
Vishwanath Gurjar, who heads the priesthood division of Jnana Prabodhini, says that women have an equal right to "moksha," the Hindu concept of the liberation of the soul from the continual cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth. According to him, there is nothing in the scriptures to suggest that women are not equal to men.
Says Gurjar: "It is only the mindset of people that stops them from accepting women in certain roles." His school started out with three-month courses for female priests and has since expanded to eight months. So far, 12 classes of 30 to 35 students each have completed the course.
For more news on female Hindu Priests click here — Hindu Priestesses
http://www.dw.de/female-hindu-priests-in-india-are-making-strides-in-a-male-dominated-profession
Standard objections to Women Priests
There are 3 standard objections within Hindu culture to the ordination of women.
1. The problem of menstruation.
During the days of blood-flow a woman is considered as "impure" and debarred from conducting or participating in rituals. (As is a man with any impure flow of blood, faeces, mucous.) This would cause great inconvenience to patrons as a fill-in who have to be found.
The solution — most women know when their period is due and will take care not to book any functions then. Post menopausal women have no such problems.
2. The problem of intimacy with the yajamana (patron)
During certain ceremonies the priest is required to tie a protective thread (raksha) on the hand of the yajamana, who then ties it on his wife — there being no direct contact between the priest and the wife of the host. A female priest would not be able to perform this duty.
The solution would be for the female priest to tie the thread on the wrist of the patron’s wife and she could then do the same for her husband.
3. The acceptance by a married woman of gifts from a man constitute an act of adultry.
Therefore it would not be possible for a female priest to accept dakshina or dana from a male patron.
The solution — the couple usually give the gift conjointly. The actually handing over could be done by the wife with the assent of the husband. In the case of an unmarried or widowed female priest this problem does not apply.
1. The problem of menstruation.
During the days of blood-flow a woman is considered as "impure" and debarred from conducting or participating in rituals. (As is a man with any impure flow of blood, faeces, mucous.) This would cause great inconvenience to patrons as a fill-in who have to be found.
The solution — most women know when their period is due and will take care not to book any functions then. Post menopausal women have no such problems.
2. The problem of intimacy with the yajamana (patron)
During certain ceremonies the priest is required to tie a protective thread (raksha) on the hand of the yajamana, who then ties it on his wife — there being no direct contact between the priest and the wife of the host. A female priest would not be able to perform this duty.
The solution would be for the female priest to tie the thread on the wrist of the patron’s wife and she could then do the same for her husband.
3. The acceptance by a married woman of gifts from a man constitute an act of adultry.
Therefore it would not be possible for a female priest to accept dakshina or dana from a male patron.
The solution — the couple usually give the gift conjointly. The actually handing over could be done by the wife with the assent of the husband. In the case of an unmarried or widowed female priest this problem does not apply.