Festivals!! Hearing this word gives us this mental imagery of vibrancy, joy, happiness and so much enthusiasm because celebrating festivals not only confers a lot of elation but it also weaves a delicate yet strong thread with the society.
But it isn’t always a smooth process to be on good terms with the society to blend with them once an individual is labelled to be ‘different’. And sadly, the transgenders experience a lot of this indecorous and impudent behaviour even when we have modernised mentally and culturally to a great extent.
A noteworthy exception for all the murk that they have faced in life is the festival of Koovagam.
Across the Indian subcontinent, more than 10000 transgenders live as outcasts finding; a job is still a real problem and most of them resort to sex work or begging to survive. However, for 2 days every year, all is forgotten. Thousands flock to the country’s biggest transgender festivals in Koovagam. A place where they can do what society won’t let them, ‘Get married’.
A peek into the festivities:
Koovagam is a unique festival that revolves around the transgender community. It is an 18-day long celebration in Koovagam village, located about 25 km away from Villupuram District of Tamil Nadu. These days fall in the month of Chaitra (according to the Hindu Calendar), that is in March/April. The Koothandavar is the place where the festival is primarily held. Koovagam festival is also referred to as the Koothandavar-Aravan Mela.
How is it celebrated?
Koovagam village is one of the most hushed, somnolent villages. However, 18 days of Koovagam celebrations illuminates every corner of this hamlet . This jamboree involves a lot of activities that bring together tons of transgenders at Koovagam. During these 18 days, Aravanis also perform the story of Aravan as a play. The first 16 days embrace numerous activities, programmes and cultural performances. Some instances would include awareness skits by NGOs, singing, dancing and a lot more . The 17th day is of great significance. On this day, various transgender women dress as brides or Mohinis; adorning bright coloured sarees, colourful bangles, jewellery and ornaments. They visit the Koothavandar Temple to marry the deity; Aravan. The temple priests tie the thali or mangalsutra around their necks to signify the marriage. The streets are filled with crowds to witness the procession and festivities.
Celebration after the ''wedding''
A huge image (of the severed head) of Lord Aravan is also carried across the streets. It is kept in the temple throughout the rest of the year. It is only during this festival that a fresh coat of paint is applied to it, and it is taken out from the sanctum. After one night, on the next day, the Aravanis gather to mourn the death and sacrifice of Aravan. They change into white sarees and no makeup is worn. The priests remove the thalis and the women fiercely break their bangles, signifying their widowhood. The rejoice heard on the day before converts to cries of sorrow and mourning on the next day. And this is one of the stark contrasts of this festival.
Idol of Aravan
17 days of joy switches to sorrow in a trice and this is not solely a reference from the mythological build up but a reflection of reality as well that we as people might have failed to ponder upon. It symbolizes the little joy and ton of sorrow that they experience every moment in their lives. it symbolizes the lives of each transgender individual whose husband (symbolizing their jubilation/ happiness) dies the very next day because the society has never given them the amount of joy they actually deserve to experience and live. Their mourning after the breaking of the Thali on the last day might be signifying.
Breaking of the 'Thali' and mourning.
What does mythology have to say? :
The birth of Aravan (the local name) is mentioned in the first book of Mahabharata named Adi Parva. The story begins when Arjuna breaks the rules and enters Draupadi’s palace. After being wedded to five pandavas it was agreed that Draupadi will spend a year with one pandava. During the span of this one year, only the pandava she served was permitted to set foot in her palace. The one who would break the rule would have to go on exile for a year. Arjuna broke the rule and was sent to a year long exile away from Indraprastha.
Lord Aravan.
In this year of exile Arjuna went to the North east region of India and met Ulupi, the widowed Naga princess who was a great warrior. Ulupi was the daughter of the Serpent King Kauravya who ruled the underwater kingdom of snakes in the Ganga river. The two fell in love and ended up marrying. It was through this association, Aravan was born. After the completion of one year, Arjuna left the Naga kingdom. Aravan is often called ‘Parakshetra’ which means born in a region belonging to another person. Some people interpret this as being born to the wife of another man. Being the son of two great warriors, Aravan grew up to be a great warrior himself. A few years passed and adolescent Aravan was curious to know his father and hoped to reunify with him. Upon meeting his son, Aravan , Arjuna requested his assistance in the Kurukshetra war. It is believed, before the beginning of the Kurukshetra war a sacrificial rite named ‘kalapalli’ was performed. The ritual required the sacrifice of a valiant warrior to the battlefield to ensure the victory. Krishna who was a friend and advisor to the pandavas shortlisted four candidates most suitable as Shalya, Arjuna, Aravan and Krishna himself. It is said that Krishna offered himself for the sacrifice but Aravan volunteered to sacrifice himself.
Lord Aravan in his warrior form
Some describe Aravan to be so strong that he could slay a hundred Duryodhans at once thus preventing any war from happening. Krishna finally agreed to the human sacrifice of Aravan to enable the bigger version of “the war to take place for the victory of dharma over adharma”. Krishna reached out to Aravan’s mother Ulupi for her consent and she strongly opposed the decision but was later convinced by Aravan when he said he belonged to mother Kali (the deity to whom the sacrifice was going to be made) alone. Upon making the decision of self sacrifice, Aravan requested Krishna to grant him the boon of a heroic death on the battlefield at the hands of a great hero. His second wish was to see the full Kurukshetra even after his death. His final wish was to be married before his death as marriage would entitle him to the right of cremation and funerary offerings because an unmarried man would be buried and not cremated. Krishna agreed to all the three wishes but was unable to find a woman who wanted to marry Aravan just to lead the rest of life as a widow. Krishna resolved the problem by taking the form of Mohini- the enchantress. Krishna as Mohini married Aravan, spending the night with him. Aravan was ready for the sacrifice. He proceeded to the Kurukshetra battlefield. While Yudhishtira was praying to mother Kali in his ‘half of weapons’, Aravan removed his chest plate and ornaments. He then cut his body into 32 pieces and kept his head and skeleton behind.
Krishna advised him to pray to the Naga, Adishesha, his grandfather. Adishesha coiled himself around Aravan to restore his body. To fulfil his first wish, Krishna selected Alambusha to defeat and kill Aravan. Alambusha prayed to Lord Garuda and defeats Adishesha leaving Aravan unprotected. To fulfil his second wish, lord Krishna kept the head of Aravan alive. Aravan was able to watch the whole battle. It is mentioned that Lord Krishna mourns as a widow after the death of Aravan . It is from Aravan’s lineage after his association with Mohini that the transgenders have been born and that is why they are also called Aravanis.
A Unique ‘Be-you’ty Pageant:
Beauty pageant in Koovagam is like any other local beauty contest and one of the most anticipated and a famous one. There are different themes every year and organizations like South India transgenders federation, Tamil Nadu AIDS control society help conduct the event. One of the themes for example in 2018 was about culture and tradition of Tamil Nadu. Contestants were asked questions based upon Indian mythologies and cultures. Transgenders believe that if they win the contest, not only their family members but the whole society will accept them. Miss Koovagam would become their identity, there will be telecasts about their life story. We come to know that transgenders look up to such events as a chance to be loved and embraced.
The beautiful and unique beauty pageant.
Radha Nayak, head of the Villupuram District Transgenders (Women) Welfare Association, states that the celebrations cost Rs. 2 to 3 lakhs, of which Rs. 1 lakh comes from the government. The remaining amount is collected from the community, with each transgender contributing from their own savings. The funds that are collected go not only towards logistical expenses but also for the travel and accommodation of transgenders from around the nation. Radha Nayak's dream is to expand this annual celebration to embrace transgenders from every district in the state, and even beyond. Currently, most of the transgenders attending the festival are from local big districts of Tamil Nadu and she has engineered, to this effect, something of a rebellion in the ranks of TANSAC (Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society). To promote the festival and the culture to more regions of the nation and the world is also a goal to be achieved. This year, TANSAC decided that ARM and its associates would conduct the beauty contest while Radha Nayak's organisation would host the cultural programmes, but after agreeing, Radha Nayak went ahead and announced a Miss Koovagam of her own.
To conclude, even though the Festival of Koovagam brings empowerment, shine, joy and representation for the Transgender community for the 18 days that it is celebrated for the real Question arises should this empowerment or awareness last for just these 18 days once a year? Don’t they deserve the acceptance and empowerment every single day from society? Which is lacking especially in our country. So what do you think we can do to actually bring a change in society’s perception towards the Transgender community?
Let's come together to be and see the change.
Thank you for reading!
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