Caste System continued

Everyone especially the Brahmins made sure that proper hygiene was maintained in society. People had to take a shower and wear clean clothes before entering temples. They were not allowed to litter inside temples. This was a good law which encouraged people to keep their surroundings. Personal hygiene was also considered to be very important. People were asked to wash their hands or take a shower if they came in contact with anything that was unhygienic like body fluids, a dead body or if they were in contact with someone who was ill. As a result the living conditions were better and communicable diseases were reduced. Today’s medical professionals still follow hand washing and taking a clean shower to reduce the transmission of germs. In fact in today’s society, everyone is encouraged to follow proper hand washing techniques to reduce the transmission of diseases like flu. It has become common to see people carry pocket size hand sanitizers. Physical contact was minimized; people always brought there two palms together in “Namaste” when they met others. They did not shake hands. People would also avoid physical contact with people with poor personal hygiene. This was considered essential to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. This has been wrongly criticized as “un-touchability”. This should not be confused with “apartheid” followed in Africa. This practice was followed to prevent the spread of diseases not to discriminate against people. Un-touchability was never practiced in the ancient society. During the Middle Ages some people might have misused these policies.

To be continued