Bali has banned menstruating women from entering their temples because period blood is ‘dirty’ and will ‘contaminate’ the religious sites
The holiday island has recently launched a crackdown on ‘naughty’ tourists to protect its sacred sites and Bali’s ‘cultural integrity’, with those in breach of the new rules facing fines and even imprisonment.
Women have been banned from entering Balinese temples while on their period, which the official Visit Bali site is because menstrual blood is ‘dirty’ and would ‘make the temple become impure’.
Tourists should respect local customs and ‘maintain the cleanliness of the surrounding environment’, Visit Bali added.
‘We issued a similar regulation before, but as things change, we need to adapt,’ Bali governor Wayan Koster said during a press conference.
‘This ensures that Bali’s tourism remains respectful, sustainable, and in harmony with our local values.’
A tourism task force is ensuring the new rules, which came into effect on March 24, are followed and that tourists who are ‘naughty will be immediately dealt with firmly’, according to the Bali Sun.
It is unclear how authorities intend to check whether a woman is menstruating to stop her from entering a temple.
The visitor’s information site says that if these rules are breached and people enter the temples while on their period, ‘many women experience pain and faint while in the temple’.
Legend in Bali says that ‘mystical events that can befall menstruating women in temples, such as possession’, according to Visit Bali.
But not only menstruating women are banned from entering the temple: Men or women who are in “cuntaka” – so’impure’ physically and spiritually in the Hindu faith – or those whose family member recently died also shouldn’t enter.
Couples who have babies under the age of six months are also banned.
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