page_title: Culture and menstruation
section_title: Keddasa
hierarchical_section_title: Culture and menstruation / By region / South Asia / India / Keddasa
caption_attribution_description: English: Tuluvas ancestors firmly believed that Earth is a woman, a mother. They conceived that Mother Earth would have an annual transitional period comparable to the menstrual period in women This photo has been taken in the country: India
context_page_description: Culture and menstruation is about cultural aspects surrounding how society views menstruation. A menstrual taboo is any social taboo concerned with menstruation. In some societies it involves menstruation being perceived as unclean or embarrassing, inhibiting even the mention of menstruation whether in public or in private. Many traditional religions consider menstruation ritually unclean, although anthropologists point out that the concepts 'sacred' and 'unclean' may be intimately connected.
  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 many hunter-gatherer societies, particularly in Africa, menstrual observances are viewed in a positive light, without any connotation of uncleanness.
context_section_description: Keddaso – Festival of worshipping Mother Earth
  Keddaso also spelled Keddasa (Tulu: keḍḍasa ಕೆಡ್ಡಸ ), or Bhumi Puje, is popularly known as the "festival of worshipping Mother Earth" in the Tulu Nadu region of Karnataka, South India. Mother Earth (Bhoomi Devi) gets menstruate and the day is celebrated holistically in Tulunad in the name of ‘Keddasa’. This is an important four-day festival celebrated in the closing days of Tulu month Ponny (Gregorian month February). This festival shows the environmental awareness of the people residing at that region
  In a 2014 study conducted in India, the researchers found that as many as 42% of women who participated in the study did not know about sanitary pads or the anatomical origin of their menstruation. The researchers noted that women reused old rags to deal with their menstrual discharge, and that "Most of them were scared or worried on first menstruation." 88% of menstruating women in rural India use alternatives to sanitary pads such as old fabric, rags, sand, ash, wood shavings, newspapers and hay.
caption: Keddaso - Menstruation of Mother Earth celebration in Tulunadu, Karnataka
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