Yogyakarta Trip Day 2 - Kraton Palace and Taman Sari Water Castle

Prambanan and Borobudur are the names that always been mentioned with Yogyakarta. However, both of the temples are actually not located in the province of Yogya, but in Central Jawa. Our second day in Yogya, after spending 3 hours visiting Candi Borobudur in the morning, we went back to Yogya to visit two of the most historical sites within the city- Kraton Palace (or Karaton Ngayogyakarta by the locals) and Taman Sari Water Castle.

Kraton Palace was built in 1790. It is the symbol of the king and the sultanate of Yogyakarta, successor of Sultanate of Mataram. The palace was built facing Mount Merapi, with Tugu Monument stands in line between them. We read in an article, saying that the monument was served as a mark for the sultan to observe the condition of the volcano in early days. After the independence of Indonesia in 1949, Yogyakarta has been given the autonomous in administration under the king and formed the Special Region of Yogyakarta. The Palace is located at the southern end of Malioboro Road, and it is quite easy to be reached (20 minutes by foot from Dagen Road). The entrance fee is RP 15,000 (tour guide is included) with additional RP 1000 for our camera. The palace is open to public from 8 am - 2 pm daily. The palace is closed to public one hour earlier on Friday.

Once we got our tickets checked, we went into the compound of Kraton Palace. The palace is dominated by Jawanese architecture, art and design, with a blend of Hinduism and Islamic influences. This white in the photo gate leads to the main palace compound. There are two guardian statues at the side of the gate, the left one is guarding the good events while the right, bad events.

There is a theater at the right side of the white gate, with traditional dance and Royal Gamelan Musicians on shows. That was the first time for us to see a full set of Gamelan. Gamelan is an assemble of traditional musical instruments originated from Jawa.

After we entered the white gate, we could see the stage of modern music (upper left) on the left, where the modern music players perform in royal occasions. Behind the stage is the house of the musicians (lower left). To the right is sultan's residence (upper right). Sultan is in his residence if the lamps in front of the residence are turned on. We grabbed an opportunity to take photo with one of the palace's guards. The palace guards are still wearing the traditional costumes and equipped with keris (traditional Malay dagger), and walk in bare foot.

Many of the equipments which were used in olden days are still displayed. The large wooden box on upper left used to be the place for sultan to store his puppets for wayang-kulit show. The big drum on upper right was used to remind sultan about the time to pray. The small litters (or sedan-chairs) on lower left were the vehicles to carry the dowry during royal marriage. Our English speaking guide was super friendly. She even showed us how the fire alarm was sound during the olden days.

The golden museum is one for the many buildings that showcases the collection of sultans, built by one of the sultans of Yogya to commemorate his own "golden era". This dark wooden building is eye-catching in the middle of white buildings.

Many antiques are displayed in the palace. One of them is the light bulbs used many years ago in the palace (left). 300 years old gamelan which is played only during Prophet Muhammad's Birthday (upper right) and the cameras used by the sultans are displayed as well.

With the mind set of how a "palace" should look like (such as the sultanate palaces in Malaysia), the modesty of Kraton Palace impressed us in a different way- that's why the people here love their sultan very much- live an ordinary life.

Taman Sari (or Tamansari) Water Castle is situated inside Kraton compound. The castle used to be the royal garden of the sultanate. Built around 1750, the castle is believed to be an area for the former kings to rest, meditate, defence, and even to escape from the enemies. The castle is believed to be a place for the kings to accommodate their concubines.The entrance fee is RP 7000 (RM 2.50 or less than USD 0.80), with additional RP 1000 for camera. The castle is opened to visitors 9 am - 3:30 pm daily.

Taman Sari consists of four different area - the first in the middle is a large bathing area with 2 pools, to the west is an artificial lake (the water has been drained out), smaller bathing pool for the sultan at the east, and a compound for royal function at the south (just after the entrance).

According to our tour guide, most of the area of Taman Sari have been occupied by the village folks, whom many of them are working for Kraton. However, in future, all the village folks will have to move out of the area in order to give Taman Sari a place on the list of World Heritage Site.

The current entrance of Taman Sari Water Castle was originally the back door of the castle. The main entrance was closed as it is not easy to be reached by visitors.

The entrance lead us into compound, where the sultans used to conduct their royal ceremony there. The small pavilions were once used as the performing stages for the musicians.

This is the picturesque scene that we saw at the center of the water castle. This is the scene that appears on many postcards. The tower used to be the location where the sultans looked for the "right one" to spend a night with.

Photo taken with LS's parents by the pool, where the concubines of the sultans used to swim inside.

Going in deeper and this is what we saw- the main entrance of the water castle. The other side of the wall has been fully occupied by the village folks. This closed entrance marks the furthest point that we could access in this castle. Lead by our tour guide, we turned right to visit the artificial lake and the underground passages.

This is one of the entrances to the underground passage. The artificial lake has been filled up by the villagers and turned into the settlement of the villagers.

Walking down to the underground passage, which once upon a time, the underwater passage.

This is how the underground passage looks like.

There is a structure lay in ruin on the top of a hill (upper and lower left), which used to be the place where the concubines live. Looking down the hill, we can see a row of white structures lined in the middle of village cottages (upper right). The white structures serve as the ventilating holes for the underground tunnels. The water used to cover until just a few inch below the windows of the white buildings. Then, led by our tour guide, we went underground again. Once we surfaced, we had reached the dock where the sultans used to embark and sail to the hillside far behind (showed by the green arrow).

For Tamansari Water Castle, hiring an English speaking tour guide with RP 20,000 per trip is highly recommended, as some of the places at Taman Sari, such as the seclusive artificial lake and the hidden underground passages are not easy to be found without proper guidance. We missed these two parts of the castle in our first visit, as the site is too big for us to explore by ourselves. We easily found the hidden area of the castle the next day, with a tour guide by our side. 

Both Taman Sari Water Castle and Kraton Palace can be accessed by becak (trishaw), andong (horse carriage), or by taxi. We found a becak driver who was willing to send us with RP 20,000 from Kraton Palace to Taman Sari, then from Taman Sari back to our hotel at Dagen Road.

After we had visited Prambanan, Borobudur, Kraton Palace, and Taman Sari Water Castle, we reserved the rest of our time to roam around Malioboro Road and Ambarrukmo Mall on our last day at Yogya. Follow us now to know more about our story about shopping, food,  and accommodation at Yogya now.

[Yogyakarta Trip Day 1- Prambanan] [Yogyakarta Trip Day 2-Borobudur] 

[Yogygakarta Trip Day 2-Kraton Palace and Taman Sari Water Castle]

[Yogyakarta-Food, Shopping, and Accommodation] [All Our Destinations]

Yogyakarta Shopping, Food, and Accomodation

Our third day in Yogyakarta- shopping and roaming around the city were our main programs. Our first 2 days itinerary is listed in our first day of our trip. We spent the whole morning roaming around Malioboro Road- starting from Malioboro Mall to Yogyakarta Post Office and BNI Bank. In the afternoon, we took a short tour back to Taman Sari Water Castle to visit the sections that we missed a day before, with a tour guide hired. Then, we went to Ambarrukmo Mall and spent the rest of the afternoon there.

Malioboro Road is the centre of Yogya. It is the most happening area in the city. From small food stalls beside the road to giant fast food chains, from exquisite batik boutiques and cheap souvenirs shops to supermarkets, you name it, you get it. The road is a historical site as well, with many of the buildings along the road were built during the Dutch era.

Shops and stalls with clothes and souvenirs. We can get a Yogya-made cotton t-shirt with RP 30,000 or less. Many of the souvenirs were sold with the price as low as RP 20,000 per piece. From what we could see, there were very less fake (replica) items or pirated products sold in Yogya.

Mirota Batik is the souvenir shop that had been strongly recommended by our friends from Yogya. It is a double-storey air-conditioned store with extravagant numbers of local products. The store is located at far south of Malioboro Road. The store was well decorated (upper left). Lower row showed the bicycle models with RP 65,000 and some of the local spices and traditional medicines.

These photos show the scenes at Malioboro Road. Malioboro Mall is shown on the lower left.

We strolled around Malioboro Road every night during our stay at Yogya. The street transforms into a giant belt of night market after the sunset. There, we experienced what so called an ocean of people in first two nights, on Saturday and Sunday. However, there was a significant reduction of crowd on  Monday night. To our surprise, the locals outnumbered the tourists.

 

There were people playing traditional music and dancing along the street (upper left). Although Malioboro is an one way street, crossing the road is not easy. Endless traffic flows from north to south of the road (upper right). Pasar Sore located at the southern end of the night market (lower left). Andong and becak services can be found along the street. We can always request for a lift back to our hotel.

Tugu Yogyakarta has many names. On some traveller's guide, it is given the name of  De Witt Paal or Tugu Pal Putih, or even Yogya Monument. However, when we mentioned all these names, one by one to our becak driver, he couldn't understand any of the name. No choice, we described how the monument looks like. Suddenly, he understood, and shouted, "Oh, Monument Tugu!" Then, we knew that the monument has another name. The monument had served as the mark for the direction of Mount Merapi from Kraton Palace since 300 years ago. It is located on the other side of the Tugu Train Station, 500 meters away from Malioboro Road.

Ambarrukmo Mall is the largest shopping complex in vicinity. KFC, Bread Story, Pizza Hut, Starbuck, JCo Doughnut, were some of the familiar names that we found in the mall. By taxi, the mall is around 15 minutes away from Malioboro.  From both the outside and the inside, the mall is nothing but another shopping complex (we have numerous in our country). The only different is, that one is located in Yogya. So, we decided to take a walk around. We spent about one hour and a half in the mall. We tried KFC set meal and JCo doughnut there as well. The KFC tasted a bit different than what we have in Malaysia. JCo doughnut on the other hand, more or less the same.

This is the scene what we saw inside Ambarrukmo Mall.

This arch marks the border of the City of Yogyakarta.

Shopping in Malioboro was a good experience for us. Firstly, nobody would approach us and wish to close a sale in the hard way. Secondly, most of the stall owners were nice and polite, and allowed us to touch and examine the goods without buying them. Thirdly, the price for most of the items were fixed, all across the road. For example, no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't get any discount on our t-shirts (unlike many places, where the price will always drop to half when we turned around and pretended to leave). Fourth, the food at the road side was safe for the tourists like us. Last but not least, the street was really safe. Everyone who wish to visit Yogya should put Malioboro Road in the itinerary, especially the night market.

We had the opportunity to try many traditional Yogya food which were recommended by Anggit, our friend who knew Yogyakarta very well. Gudeg, pecel lele, and soto ayam are on the top of our list. Gudeg is the special traditional gravy made by jackfruit and Jawa sugar, which serves with egg, chicken, tofu, and tempeh. Pecel lele is the fried catfish with ulam (fresh vegetable). Soto ayam is the spicy yellow chicken soup.

We could buy gudeg (upper left) and pecel lele (lower left) at almost every food stall in Malioboro. The gudeg with egg and tofu was sold with RP 9,000, while lele was sold with RP 3,000 per fish. Pecel lele is was the dish that closest to ours Malaysian taste. The soto was a bit more spicy than what we have in Malaysia, while gudeg was really something new to us. The food stalls around Malioboro serve many other types of food.

Bak pia is another food that we tried in Yogya (upper left). It is a popular delicacy around Malioboro. Onde-onde and other delicacies tasted good as well (upper right). Another popular soup at Malioboro is ronde- ginger soup with different dessert (lower left). We didn't try ronde as we somehow couldn't accept the way they mix the dessert with ginger soup. In Malioboro, we can see many people sit along the road side to enjoy their food.

Our lunch at All Season Hotel in Yogya. Kampung fried rice (upper left), kampung fried noodle (lower left), soto ayam (upper right) and gudeg with chicken were on our order list. All the food served in that hotel taste good.

Our hotel is one of the tallest buildings in Yogyakarta. The top floor of the hotel is a good location for dinner with beautuful night scenery. The food, excellent.

Night scenery of Yogyakarta from the top floor of our hotel.

We stayed in All Season Hotel Yogya. The hotel is located at Dagen Road, about 400 meters away from Malioboro Road. The hotel surprised us with its outstanding and refreshing design. Many of the furniture are designed with curves and painted in bright colours. In addition to that, helpful staff, quiet environment, delighting food, and comfortable room make the hotel a perfect place for us to rest.

The reception counter of the hotel is different from any design that we had ever seen before (upper left). The pool (upper right) and the garden (lower left) on the top floor of the hotel is a good place to enjoy the night scenery of Yogya. The bedroom and the bathroom is partitioned with glass. The amenities- LCD flat screen, coffee making facilities, free wifi, safe etc.

Can you believe that these are in fact the chairs in the lobby?

Find a place to stay in Yogya won't be a difficult task. There are more than 20 hotels and rest houses along Dagen Road itself. So, please make sure that you get somewhere to stay close to Malioboro Road so that you can access to the heart of Yogya easily. Yogya is a good place for a short vacation. As it is the most developed city in vicinity of both Prambanan and Borobudur, it is definately a strategic city to stay for archaeology lovers. Please go to the first day of our trip for our itinarary of Yogyakarta trip.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our friend Anggit again for her invaluable information, which had helped us to make a few critical decisions. Besides, we found some useful information at www.borobudurpark.com and Wiki travel on Borobudur as well.

To know more about other attractions in Indonesia, please visit our blog about Our Bali Trip on 2009.Or follow us to All Our Destination here.

[Yogyakarta Trip Day 1- Prambanan] [Yogyakarta Trip Day 2-Borobudur] 

[Yogygakarta Trip Day 2-Kraton Palace and Taman Sari Water Castle]

[Yogyakarta-Food, Shopping, and Accomodation] [All Our Destinations]

Dwajasthambam - Flag Pole

Dwajasthambam:

The Dwajasthambam is referred to as being a medium for the Heavens to be connected to the earth, which would refer to it being a spiritual connector between us earthlings, and the Supreme Being, God.The Sanskrit word for the flag is ‘dhvaja’ and it means whatever is raised. In the religious sense, whatever raises man to a higher level of understanding and activity is a ‘dhvaja.’ The flag also suggests hope and desire to overcome ignorance.

There is a widespread belief that the Dwajasthambam gives an idea to a devotee from a long distance about the idol installed in the temple. A Dwajasthambam usually represents the prosperity and pride of a temple. But some texts do suggest that the bottom of a flag post symbolizes Shiva, middle portion Brahma and the top portion Vishnu. 

Cultural Beliefs: 

It's really wonderful how our ancient Indian Hindus have incorporated this principle in order to safeguard the most important place of their social setting, the temples.

The top portion of the flag staff has three horizontal perches or three branches pointing towards the Sanctum. It symbolizes righteousness, reputation and propriety or the Trimurtis – Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva.

Initially, it was temporary and was primarily used to indicate the beginning of a festival or other auspicious days and occasions.

Some flags and banners hoisted in temples act as a message board and give an idea about the deity worshipped in the temple. It also suggests which particular incarnation or manifestation of the God is given importance in the temple.

Where Dwajasthambam is placed?

This is placed between the Rajagopuram and the main sanctum. Devatas representing "Sankam", "Chakram" and "Yupam” reside here. A special tree, fifteen feet in height, was brought from India, and has been placed and clad with brass decorations. Special flags will be raised during each of the festivals that will be conducted for Sri Lakshmi and other sanctums of the temple to mark the occasions. Daily pooja will also be performed for the Dwajasthambam.

Scientific Reasons:

Whenever lightning strikes, the metal arrestor (A device used to protect equipment from lightning, electrical storms, etc...), placed such that it is the highest point of the region, and induces the charge to conduct through it. The Arrestor then conducts the heavy electrical impulse directly to ground, thus preventing the building from getting damaged.

It can be noticed that the top of the DhwajaStambha is the highest point of the temple, and thus, whenever lightning would strike, the temple would be saved from the devastating damage that could have been caused. 

This is what could be meant from the explanation that it connects "Heaven to earth" (i.e.) it conducts the charges from the clouds above during lightning to earth or ground, which is the electrical term for a no-potential area.

Dwajastambham is a kind of Antenna like structure which receives the cosmic rays and brings it down to the premise of temple.

Interesting Facts: 

The following points are the Do's and Don’ts inside the Temple:

1. Dwajastambham in temples are the places where you should prostrate before entering temples. Near Dwajastambham you are supposed to leave all your bad doshas, attitudes or karmas and purify yourself before entering inside the temple. When you enter inside, you become one with the god or goddess with your prayers and the transmutation of energy takes place.
2. Dwajastambham which also symbolizes the spine or Back-Bone. Near the Dwajastambham in case of South Indian temples is the Bali Peetam. Rice and other anointments are offered here by the priests, who then progress to all other presiding deities around the temple and subsequently to the main deity. The significance of Garuda in the Dwajastambham is, that he is waiting eagerly to guide us to the lord.Garuda also removes any sarpadoshas in the body.
3. If you have Navgrahas inside the temple, you have to do pradakshina and offerings and then enter the temple. In most of the temples there are rules put that you cannot prostrate inside the temple complex. You have to do namaskaram near the Dwajastambham and then enter the inside of the temple
4. The temple complex is a sacred place where you can access the divine energy according to ones requirement. You can see Bhairavar at the entrance in some temples.He is the guardian of the temple. You have to take permission and then enter inside the temple. Likewise if Ganapathy is there at the entrance then you have to prostrate and then enter inside. If Hanuman or Garudan is in the entrance prostrate there and near Dwajastambham prostration is done before entering inside the temple. All these deities are placed according to the temples rules and regulation and there practices.
5. The number of prostrations also varies and depends on the main deity or custom of the temple architecture. Before visiting the main deity (moolavar) inside generally pradakshina is done with number varying from 1, 3 5, etc. The broad significance of pradakshina in a clock wise direction is: By doing the pradakshina main deity is always in the center and we maintain equidistant from the center. The energy and grace which enters inside the human soul is immeasurable. When you do pradakshina you are faithfully and sincerely winding divinity around you. We are supposed to do the pradakshina of desired numbers and then enter inside to be with main deity. Of course all this is not possible in a temple like Tirupathi or in other crowded temples. In such case one has to be satisfied by doing atmapradakshina.

In case of Sivan Temple / sanadhi :

1. First you pray to Nandi that is Rishabam.Rule number one before going inside the Shiva temple you should offer prayers to Nandi and chant Shiva mantra in Nandi’s (Rishabams) ear Right or left ear. The choice is yours. Suppose as you are telling that you want to chant in right ear of Nandi that is on the other side then , you must go from the Back side of Nandi only .Then touch Nandi’s feet and then pray in his ears and come back from back side of Nandi only. Generally you should not stand in between Nandi and Shiva lingam and pray. You can see Shiva lingam in between Nandi shorn . Again Kindly Note You are not supposed to stand in front of Nandi and pray to Shiva.
2. Chandishwararsanadhi in many temples on the way to Gomuki you can find the Idol. This is the place where you clap your hands .The Significance of clapping hands in front of Chandishwarar is , you announce your presence by clapping and Lord Chandishwarar will acknowledge your presence in the temple
3. Gomuki is the place where abhishekkam water comes out from Shiva lingam. After Praying to Chandishwarar you proceed towards the Gomuki .After praying near Gomuki you retrace your path and come back near Nandi .Note when you are praying near Gomuki you are not supposed to cross the Gomuki. In some old temples of Tamil Nadu they have constructed a wall so that you cannot go beyond gomuki.

Naivedyam - Offering of Food to God

Naivedyam (Offering of Food to God)

Naivedyam  is the Food offered to a Hindu deity as part of a worship ritual, before eating it. As such, tasting during preparation or eating the food before offering it to God is forbidden. The food is placed before a deity and prayers are offered. Then the food is consumed as a holy offering. The offerings may include cooked food, sugar canes, and fruits. Mostly, vegetarian food alone is offered to the deity and later distributed to the devotees who are present in the temple. Great care is taken when food is cooked for the deity.

Cultural Beliefs:

Hindus offer cooked food or some fruits to a picture or idol of a deity and later partake of it as prasaada ,a holy gift from the Lord. In our daily ritualistic worship (pooja) too we offer naivedyam (food) to the Lord.
Naivedhya is not necessarily a food offering to God and actually means 'offering to God' in the stricter sense of the words. It could be any offering, tangible or intangible. A resolution, a promise or even a willingness to do, perform or restrict from certain things can also be connoted as offering to God.

The food offered will naturally be pure and the best. We share what we get with others before consuming it. We do not demand, complain or criticize the quality of the food we get. We eat it with cheerful acceptance (prasaada buddhi).

Naivedyam Items:

• Fruits like Grape, Mango, Coconut, Jack Fruit, Apple, Banana, Lemon Fruit, The Wood Apple,
• Rose Apple, Indian Gooseberry, Red Date and Pomegranate.
• Eatables like vadai, appam, murukku, butter, milk, ladoo and sweets.
• Food Items like Curd rice, Pongal, Lemon rice, Milk rice, Sweet pongal, payasam and Ghee rice.

Benefits:

The food symbolically stands for our ignorant consciousness, which we place before god for spiritual enlightenment. After he suffuses it with knowledge and light and breathes a new life into our bodies, it makes us divine. When we share the prasad with others, we share the knowledge we thus gained with fellow beings.

Scientific Reasons:

• The activity may be changed into sacrifice. This reminds us that food is not merely intended to appease our taste. This act also purifies the food.
• food is digested through the gastric fire.
• The life force within us as the five physiological functions like respiratory, excretory, circulatory, reversal and digestive systems are getting purified and best.

Interesting Facts:

Before we partake of our daily meals we first sprinkle water around the plate as an act of purification. Five morsels of food are placed on the side of the plate acknowledging the debt owed by us to the Divine forces (devta runa) for their benign grace and protection, our ancestors (pitru runa) for giving us their lineage and a family culture, the sages (rishi runa) as our religion and culture have been “realized”, maintained and handed down to us by them, our fellow beings (manushya runa) who constitute society without the support of which we could not live as we do and other living beings (bhuta runa) for serving us selflessly.

Learned people recite the following Gita verses while having meals so that this Thinking of God before taking food makes it a spiritual act.

Mantra-

Brahmarpanam Brahma havir brahmaagnou brahmanaayutham
Brahmaiva taena gantavyam Brahma karma samaadhina

Meaning-
The ladle is God , the oblation is God, it is offered by God in the fire, which is God.
God shall be attained by him who is absorbed in God as the act of such sacrifice.

Sprinkle water on the food, place a tulasi leaf and chant

Mantra-

Om bhoorbhuvassuvah amrutho(u)pasvaranamasi
Pranaya svaha apanaya svaha vyanaya svaha
Udanaya svaha samanaya svaha brahmane svaha

Meaning-
The three worlds are pervaded by the Lord, the creator.
I offer this to prana (respiratory system)
I offer this to apana (excretory system)
I offer this to vyana (circulatory system)
I offer this to udana (reversal system)
I offer this to samana (digestive system)

Mantra-

Aham vais(h)vaanaro bhoothvaa praaninaam daehamaas(h)rithah
Praanaapaana samaayukthah pachaamyannam chathurvidham

Meaning-
Becoming the fire of life in the bodies of living creatures and united with Prana (ingoing) and Apana (outgoing) breaths, I digest the four kinds of food. The four kinds of food are
1 – that which is chewed by teeth – rice, vegetables etc
2 – that which is swallowed – milk etc
3 – that which is sucked – mango, sugar cane. The immovable beings such as trees etc receive food this way.
4 – That which is licked – honey etc.

Menstruation

Menstruation

Menstruation is a woman's monthly bleeding which is also known as a period. When you menstruate, your body is shedding the lining of the uterus menstrual blood flows from the uterus through the small opening in the cervix, and passes out of the body through the vagina. Most menstrual periods last from three to five days.

What is Menstruation?

The menstrual cycle is the female reproductive cycle that makes eggs available for fertilization. Menstruation involves the hypothalamus, pituitary and ovary. Every 28 days, a woman enters ovulation, which means that she is dropping an egg from one of her ovaries into the Fallopian tube. The uterus prepares to receive a fertilized egg by lining itself with special cells, which allow the egg to fasten to the wall of the uterus. All of this dead material must be flushed from the body, which is what the menstrual flow accomplishes.

The two major female sex hormones in the body are estrogen and progesterone. They are produced in a pair of organs in the abdomen, known as the ovaries. The ovaries start producing large quantities of estrogen when a girl reaches about 12 years of age. This enables her to grow rapidly and develop into a normal young woman. The commencement of menstruation at this time heralds the reproductive phase of her life, when she can have children. The main problems relating to menstrual flow are pre-menstrual tension, painful menstruation, stoppage of menstruation, and excessive menstruation. These disorders are not uncommon.

Cultural Beliefs:

In Hinduism, menstruating women are not supposed to enter the temple or puja room in the house because they are ‘unclean’, and keep away from sacred objects in their homes. The menstruating woman is treated as “impure” or “polluted”. The impurity lasts only during the menses, and ends immediately thereafter. 

• During their menstruation, women must leave the main house .
• They must take rest, and do no work, should not cry, run, laugh or talk too much, should not cut her nails and not allowed to cook food and must keep separate utensils. 
• They should not touch or plant the trees and water the plants.
• They Should not touch the Living things.
• They should not see a Brahmin who is having food.
• They should not touch or offer the prayers to god even on the  fourth day of menstruation.
• They should not sleep in the afternoon on the fourth day after having head bath.(if they sleep will get fever).
• Do not apply oil on the fifth day of menstruation.

The reason was due to the infection at those days and for the poor living conditions prevailed then. Women had less Hemoglobin content and susceptible to fatal infections during this period. Now we have better antiseptics and other hygienic environments and appliances.

Mantra after menstruation:

ఆకూ తొక్కినా పాపం అంటు తొక్కినా పాపం 

బ్రాహ్మణుడు భోజనం చేస్తుంటే చుసిన పాపం 

కొండంత పాపం  గోరింత చేసి 

గోరింత పుణ్యం కొండంత చేసి

నేవే అన్నవు నేనే చెల్లిని 

ఓ సూర్యభగవానుడ నమస్కారములు 

Scientific Reason:

The ovarian hormones estrogen and progesterone are produced during each menstrual cycle. These hormones circulate in the blood stream, enter cells throughout the body, and affect how these cells are able to carry out their daily functions. The brain is made up of millions of cells that are sensitive to the effects of ovarian hormones and the fluctuations in these hormones during the menstrual cycle. For most women, ovarian hormones serve to support basic brain functions, including sleep and temperature control, sexual feelings, ability to reason and moods.

Women need to understand what is happening with their bodies and thus cope intelligently with these natural forces. Women live longer than men because their blood gets purified each month.

Dietary wastes are removed through feces and urine, and fat is removed through sweat.

Food is converted into seven tissues through fire - first into blood and then six kinds of flesh. At each stage some wastes are generated through metabolism. Every month a woman body purifies the blood, adjusting for any imbalances. This controls the throwing out of these wastes. This is very beneficial and makes it easier for her to be physically healthy.

The monthly hormonal-emotional cycle involves all three doshas (movement, metabolism and structure). This was supposed to take place over the new moon time. Once her flow ends, fertility would peak around full moon. This was considered the ideal time to conceive - especially since the moon represents the mind. At that time, both male and female deep impressions are optimal to pass on to a child.

Problems and remedies during menstruation:

The discomfort experienced during menstruation varies from woman to woman. Some are never bothered by their periods, while some are badly affected by unpleasant symptoms. 

These may include like pains in the vagina, feeling nauseous and unwell, sweating, mood swings, irritability, anxiety, tension, and depression. Also physical problems like Breast tenderness, Abdominal swelling, Weight gain, Swollen ankles, Feeling tired, Appetite changes or food cravings, upset stomach, bloating, constipation, or diarrhea, Headaches and  migraine.

There are several things that will help relieve discomfort:

• Try to avoid drinking caffeinated drinks such as coffee, tea, and cola.
• Relaxation and massage can work wonders.
• Exercise and staying fit can help prevent painful periods.
• Take Supplements like Vitamin B6, Vitamin, Magnesium, Multivitamin and Minerals.
• Drink a glass of the juice of carrot, beetroot and cucumber along with parsley.
• Ginger is a wonder herb and has tremendous health benefits .Boil some ginger slices in water. Keep sipping this throughout the day.
• Keep your abdomen warm. Placing a hot water bag on the stomach will help in easing the pain or a better option is to squeeze a towel in hot water and place it on the stomach.
• Try using turmeric extract twice daily for two weeks prior to expected menstruation. Turmeric purifies, stimulates and builds blood. Turmeric is an antispasmodic to smooth muscles so it reduces digestive and menstrual cramping. It should reduce the severity of pain, if not ease them completely. Turmeric used during the menstruation cycle helps in removing stagnant blood.
• Take half a teaspoon of Sesame seeds powder with hot water twice daily. It acts excellently in reducing spasmodic pain during menstruation in young, unmarried anemic girls.
• The unripe papaya helps the contractions of the muscle fibers of the uterus and is thus beneficial in securing a proper menstrual flow. Papaya is especially helpful when menstruation ceases due to stress or fright in young unmarried girls.
• Six grams of Coriander seeds should be boiled in half a liter of water. This decoction should be taken off the fire when only half the water remains. Sugar candy should be added to it and the patient should drink it when it is still warm.
• Eating a spoon of Fenugreek seeds (Menthi) with a cup of Buttermilk helps to reduce stomach ache. 

Interesting facts:

The coincidence of the moon and women are described like this. The moon is the sub planet of the earth. While all other planets are rotating the sun, the moon is only rotating the earth. Consider the nature of women assuming the sun is the husband of the moon. The earth is the parent of the moon. This evidences the fact that a woman's heart is always centering around her parents wherever she is.

A moon becomes shinning and beautiful when it goes nearer to her husband Sun. Likewise a women is honored and respected while she is along with her husband. This is the day of full moon.

A moon becomes dark and unseen when it keeps away from the Sun. Likewise a woman loses her glory and respect when she keeps away her husband. This is the day of new moon.