People perform various auspicious ceremonies on the occasions of illness, the weddings of sons and daughters, the births of children and the setting out on journeys. On these and similar occasions, people perform many auspicious ceremonies. And on such occasions, the womenfolk in particular perform many and diverse ceremonies which are trivial (chhudam) and meaningless (nirartham)… The said kinds of rites in fact produce meagre results’ (emphases added). Thus said Piyadassi (Asoka), Beloved of the Gods in his Rock Edict IX at Mansehra. This is probably the earliest epigraphic allusion (circa 3rd century BCE) to performance of religious rites and rituals, specially by women.
October 2015, volume 39, No 10