Question
Can women be priestesses?
Answer
Right from the Vedic times till this date, women are not prohibited from learning vedas. There have been many women purohits (priests who have expertise in rituals outside of temples) in the past and present.
However we rarely encounter women pujaris (temple priests) because of the following physiological and sociological reasons:
Puja should be done only with Sattva dominant body and mind
During the menstruation period, there is "Rajas" nature dominant in female body (high emotional activity).
Due to this, on a women may not be able to perform temple duties on 4-5 days per month.
Naturally it becomes difficult to find a replacement priest for just 4-5 days
Also, not to forget that during pregnancy too, a woman would be unable to carry out daily rituals.
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