One wonders why the community is relegated to the status of celebration of desire, liberty, freedom and equality only once a year at Koovagam? I hope to change that,” says Sowmya who contested the elections in Karnataka this year.
Koovagam affords the transgender community to savour life intensely for 10 days.
Marriage remains a Utopian desire.However, each year at the sanctum of the the Koothandavar temple, the Transgenders wed Aravan. The priest ties the thali and gives them the status of Aravan's bride.
Marriage remains a Utopian desire.However, each year at the sanctum of the the Koothandavar temple, the Transgenders wed Aravan. The priest ties the thali and gives them the status of Aravan's bride.
The day after the wedding, a procession of Aravan's effigy is taken around the village before being ceremonially beheaded and thrown into the flames.
Bangles are broken, sindoor washed off, flowers yanked off their hair and the thali snatched off. They lament over their gender dysphoria and the inevitability of their existential crisis.
Once Aravan is beheaded, the mourning begins.
Once the rituals of mourning are done, seemingly calming white clothes are adorned. A sense of silence seems to engulf them, almost as if the bitter self-flagellation has helped them surpass their fears of loneness and nourished their hopes for dignity and inclusivity.