Anagha Bhat
MANGALURU: A second-year PU student from Dakshina Kannada district has become the first woman in the family of purohits to perform priestly duties during marriages and religious functions.
It is rare to find women priests at temples or other religious forums though there is no such ban in the scriptures. However, 17-year-old Anagha Bhat from Dasakodi village in Bantwal taluk found the path easier as her father and priest Kashekodi Sooryanarayana Bhat encouraged her to study Sanskrit and Vedas and helped her become a priest in her own right.
In fact, it was her grandfather Guruvayoore Bhat, who would repeatedly ask a young Anagha why wasn’t she interested in learning the Vedas. Years later, she fulfilled her grandfather’s wish and learnt the Vedas from her father. She has been assisting her father for two years in solemnizing marriages and performing rituals in other religious events, besides taking up independent assignments as a purohit under the watchful eyes of her father.