What is a Lota? A Brief History
What is Lota? How do we prefer to use a lota?
In simple words, the lota can be compared to a toilet bidet that is shaped similarly to a tea pot.
In the Indian subcontinent, the lota is used to purge oneself. In Bengali, the term lota is utilized for shower mugs. Muslims also use the lota for the istinja purifying customs, for example, wudu, shower, and butt-driven purging.
Many religions do not prefer to use toilet paper, such as the Islamic faith. Because of this, there are many individual cleanliness rules in Islam that must be followed when setting off to the latrine. This Muslim hygiene statute is known as Qadaa' al-Haajah.
For some background, it is very common among Indians to clean up after expelling waste by using a water pot called a lota and one of their hands. You utilize the lota to pour water at your anus and use your left hand to clean it up.
This likely seems odd to toilet paper users, but we have had a go at utilizing just bathroom tissue and have no clue about how individuals get by. Even if the toilet paper returns clean, there's still a significant amount of dry fecal residue that causes your anus to itch later on. Personally, I use bathroom tissue to get off as much as possible, and afterward utilize the lota subsequently.
Charles Eames comments on the Lota in his ‘The Indian Report’ and had the following to say about its design:
‘Of all the objects we have seen and admired during our visit to India, the Lota, that simple vessel of everyday use, stands out as perhaps the greatest, the most beautiful. The village women have a process which, with the use of tamarind and ash, each day turns this brass into gold. But how would one go about designing a Lota? First one would have to shut out all preconceived ideas on the subject and then begin to consider factor after factor’
Where did the Lota Originate?
Individuals have been around for more than 300,000 years now, and most of that has been without hygiene items like toilet paper.
As talked about in Early Indians (a profoundly keen and rousing book), the modern Humans travelled ‘out of Africa,’ through Iran and towards the Pakistan-Indian belt, also called the “Harappan Civilization.”
These Early Indians, alongside their Middle and Central Asian partners, utilized what we call the “Lota” for their cleanup – something that this belt is still proud of!
While majority of Indians are a mix of Harappans and Indo-Euroasians (or ‘Aryans’ as we call them), and most of our current habits are taken from either of these two, one good habit we have retained from our Harappan ancestors is certainly a boon during this time!
Also called ‘manual bidet’ in the Middle and central Asian belt, the lota is essentially a manual bidet that one can use as many times as needed without required mechanical parts or electricity.
Bidets in the US:
Regardless of the prevalence of the bidet in other cultures around the world, the United States has routinely resisted its appeal.
Why, you might ask?
Well, the explanation might lie in the intensity of its initial introduction.
Americans were introduced to bidets on a broad scale during World War II, when troops were positioned in Europe. Soldiers visiting bordellos would regularly observe bidets in the bathrooms, so they began to associate these basins with sex work. Once back home, servicemen would feel queasy introducing these fixtures to their homeland.
Even before the war, however, bidets were connected to sex and embarrassment. In the United States and Britain, bidets were considered a form of birth control. As Norman Haire, a contraception pioneer placed it in 1936, "The proximity of a bidet is seen as right around a picture of bad behavior."
Aside from that, another affiliation was menstruation – when women needed to wash up. As a selling point for bidets, menstruation was potentially comparable to undesirable pregnancy and prostitution as bothersome and implicit during the pre and post war years.
As a result, adopting the bidet culture has been incredibly difficult. Unexpectedly, however, Covid-19 is changing this perspective!
Will the Bidet Continue to Grow in Popularity in the United States?
We think it will.
Since the onset of Covid, the US has seen a distinct rise in upper class families purchasing bidets to avoid becoming a victim of the toilet paper shortage.
Since this began, however, middle to lower class homes have been following suit and purchasing less-expensive manual bidets for their own homes. However, these manual bidets can still have quite the hefty price tag.
For this reason, we’ve patented and begun manufacturing The Pocket Bidet®. This bidet is not only inexpensive and durable, but it’s also portable enough to use anywhere in the world.
The compact design allows it to be concealed in areas as small as a purse or pocket, and you only have to fill it up with water from whatever source you have available before it’s ready to use.
The Pocket Bidet® is completely inexpensive, widely available, and incredibly convenient. Visit our shop to get your own today!
