Thamara Perera

The Temple

"The Temple" is a piece about the spiritual gatekeeping that takes place in South Asian culture. There is a common belief that womanhood is a hindrance to reaching spiritual enlightenment, which results in the misogynistic societal norm of prohibiting menstruating women from entering a house of worship because they are deemed unclean. This ideology of separating the woman from what is sacred is a relatively new one, that contradicts the very essence of traditional South Asian spirituality, where female goddesses are just as powerful as their male counterparts, and temples are covered in female iconography.

“This illustration is a part of my Thesis series, "May the Yakshi Rise Again!" that compares South Asian women's issues with various feminist aspects of ancient South Asian culture. "The Temple" compares the prohibition of menstruating women entering a house of worship with South Asian temples that are covered in female iconography.”