peterdavid
She has been a Hindu Priest in various places for over a decade. Yes! ‘she’ Nandini Devi is the first & only female Priests in India for over a decade. Her brilliant presence at her work can definitely beat any ‘male Priest’. Showing thumps down to ‘Patriarchy’ with her bold comments. In 2020, Aritra Mukherjee’s made a film ‘Brahma Janen Gopon Kommoti’ that based on Nandini Bhowmik.
The task of changing the patriarchal mentality was not that easy. She studied Sanskrit at Lady Brabourne College and later taught. Nandini Devi got Gauri Dharmapala as a teacher while studying in college she learned the rituals of Vedic marriage and mantras from him. But the whole thing happened strangely. Nandini Devi was established in life then. Her classmates are doing the same in other places. At that time, they got in touch with their dear ‘Didi’ again. At that time, Gauri Dharmapala herself was looking for girls through whom the work of Vedic marriage priesthood could be carried forward.
“Nowhere is it said that only men can be priests”, not girls! Nandini found her classmate Ruma Roy by her side. Teaching Sanskrit mantras from time to time; Not only this, with the help of proper pronunciation and reading it. In the village, it was a part of education. Mantras can’t be genderized, if you can pronounce them correctly, why are there so many obstacles in its application!
Nandini Bhowmik started officiating her first marriage in 2009. The way to go was not that happy. It is quite surprising that a ‘female priest’ will be working as a priest. Many cannot accept. If you want to change it, you have to have a little patience. It takes time. That’s what we tried to do. We have no fight with netizens Instead, whenever it is needed, I’ll explain everything with logic,” said Nandini. There was strange confidence in her throat as she spoke. It is necessary to take this step outside the so-called ‘bound rules’ of society.
Although it started with the wedding ceremony, it did not stop there. She has also started taking charge of other programs in the last three-four years. Today Nandini Bhowmik and Ruma Rayra are known in Bengal. Their team has also increased from two to four. Two Rabindra Sangeet artists, Semanti and Paulmi have joined. “The spread of Rabindra Sangeet is very big, much wider.
