Liberty - without a loo

MADURAI: The villagers of Koovalapuram are suspicious. Having been featured in the 2013 documentary Madhavidai (Menses), it was more recently the subject of a long-form report online. This led to more interest from news crews and more suspicion of reporters from the villagers.

What’s so special about Koovalapuram? That’s exactly what the villagers ask: What is so special? Why do you all ask the same questions?

Nestled at the foothills of the Western Ghats and bordering Madurai and Virudhunagar districts is the Koovalapuram panchayat union. Located in Peraiyur taluk of Madurai district, the panchayat union comprises four villages namely Koovalapuram, Meenakshi Puram, K Pudhupatti and Chinnaiahpuram. 
 
The caste Hindus of Koovalapuram and K Pudhupatti follow a custom associated with their village temple: menstruating women are sent to a common hall or 'guest house'. The villagers call it muttuthurai. 
 
‘The guest house’

The guesthouse is set amidst Koovalapuram’s closely-built houses, surrounded by settlements on three sides and by open fields (leading to the foothills of the Western Ghats) on the fourth. The muttuthurai is a single-room structure, large enough to accommodate six to eight women at a time. Inside the room are a fan, light, some college books, plug points and clothes hung on a rope tied across the room. Hanging from the branches of a neem tree outside are gunny bags holding the plates, cups and clothes used by the women during their visit to the 'guest house'.
 
Pointing at a tiled-roof room, half the size of the present muttuthurai, locals say that it served as the village's muttuthurai for decades until the new structure was built some six months ago, with money pooled in by villagers. Before that tiled-roof room was built, the women were made to stay in a thatched hut. 
 
Twenty-three-year-old Revathi* lives near the muttuthurai. Married with two daughters, she now lives four houses from her parents' home in the same village. 
 
"When adolescent girls hit puberty and when women give birth, they stay at the muttuthurai for one month. Other women stay during their period,” she said. However, she stressed that the women don't feel they are being stigmatised. “Only outsiders find the practice odd. For us, it is a liberating experience!" she said. 
 
"For us, being sent to muttuthurai means freedom from household chores at the time of menstruation. It gives the menstruating women the luxury of rest and relaxation. For women elsewhere, it is just another tiring day even during menstruation." 
 
Life as usual

The liberation may be from housework and cooking but life continues as usual even at the muttuthurai, Revathi said. Adolescent girls who attain puberty and menstruating women all go to school, college or work -- including toiling in the fields -- in the morning and return to the muttuthurai. 
 
Only new mothers are required to stay in the muttuthurai throughout the day for the one month they are there. But, nowadays, since many women undergo caesaerean deliveries, many new mothers do not stick to the regime, Revathi added. They are taken home directly from the hospital.
 
Admitting that the practice allows everyone in the village to know the menstrual cycle of the women, she said, "On the bright side, any visiting relative who learns of our stay at the muttuthurai takes a special interest to know if we have eaten and are okay, making us feel pampered. This wouldn't be the case during other days when we work around the clock." 
 
Twenty-seven-year-old *Vijaya who was born in the neighbouring Peraiyur found the custom bizarre at first. "Soon after I got engaged to my husband, a native of Koovalapuram, I was told of the custom and trained for it well ahead of our marriage. Though it seemed bizarre initially, I later got accustomed to it and now I have no complaints," she said. 
 
According to her, the practice provides the women an opportunity to socialise with other visitors to the muttuthurai, to listen to music and be free of family responsibilities. During their stay, all visitors are provided food cooked by family members or neighbours, added Vijaya. 
 
"During our stay, we can freely walk around the village streets. However, movement inside the village is restricted at times of temple festivals. During those times, the women ought to take a roundabout route through the open fields to enter and leave the muttuthurai," Revathi explained. 

Interestingly, the more well-off families keep the menstruating women secluded on their ‘thinnai’ (veranda) instead of sending them to the muttuthurai.
 
For want of a toilet

Despite Revathi’s cheerful exposition, there is one aspect of the muttuthurai that the women agree needs to be changed: there is no usable toilet.
 
According to 19-year-old Sudha, a college student, although there is a toilet outside the muttuthurai, it is not functional. “Besides, we face difficulties in receiving adequate water supply through the hand pump outside the muttuthurai,” she said.
 
The lack of a toilet is a problem for women in K Pudhupatti as well. The muttuthurai there is both smaller and older than Koovalapuram’s and the toilet is too dilapidated to use.
 
“We are forced to relieve ourselves in the open fields,” Sudha complained.