The festival takes place at the Koothandavar Temple dedicated to Iravan (Koothandavar). The participants marry the Lord Koothandavar, thus reenacting an ancient history of Lord Vishnu/Krishna who married him after taking a form of a woman called Mohini. The next day, they mourn the god Koothandavar's death through ritualistic dances and by breaking their bangles. An annual beauty pageant and several other competitions like singing contests are held.[3]
Basic rights of transgender individuals and health care are discussed in seminars too. People attend this festival from all over India.
Location From Viluppuram 25 km and from Ulundurpet 15 km.
Koovagam festival
The Koovagam festival is an annual gathering of transgender women, referred to as Aravani in Tamil that begins on the full moon of the Chithirai month of the Tamil calendar. Tens of thousands of transgender women gather for an 18-day-long festival.
For the first 13 days, the festival is filled with performances and programming as well as the Miss Koovagam beauty pageant.[4] During the 14th day of the festival, the women dress in their finest and arrive at the Koothandavar temple to become symbolic brides of the deity Aravan.[5] Priests officiate the marriages as proxies for Aravan by tying thaalis around their necks and applying kumkum on their foreheads. The women spend a day joyously celebrating their status as newlyweds.
On the 16th day, the image of Aravan is repainted and paraded during the festival throughout the village until the deity reaches the mourning grounds, where the brides become widows and wear white sarees, remove their thaalis and break their bangles to spend a day as widows, mourning the death of Aravan.[6] Throughout the festival
NGOs spread awareness towards the high HIV rates within the transgender community in India and run testing centers.[7]
History and mythology
The mythology associated with the celebration of the Koovagam Festival comes from the myth of Aravan, a character of the Mahabharata. The Mahabharata tells the story of the 18-day Kurukshetra War and how Aravan sacrificed himself in a heroic way to help win it. In the myth, Aravan is the son of the Pandava prince Arjuna and the Naga princess Ulupi.
Aravan Sculpture
According to the Mahabharata, a human sacrifice known as the Kalappali had to be made by the Pandavas to win the war. The person to be sacrificed had to have the 32 lakshanam and the only 3 people to have these were Krishna, Arjuna, and Aravan. Krishna could not be sacrificed and Arjuna was essential as he was the best archer, so Aravan volunteered himself to be the one to die.[8]
Because of his brave decision, Krishna granted him the wish of marrying before dying so he took on the form of a woman named Mohini and married Aravan. He was to be sacrificed to the Goddess Kali and so his body was cut into 32 pieces to which Kali blessed the Pandavas and allowed them to win the war. The day after Aravan's sacrifice, Mohini grieved him like a widow and followed different rituals to honor his death.
Marriage to Koothandavar and Widowhood
On the 14th day of the Koovagam festival, which is also the full moon day, transgender women dressed as Mohini gather at the Kuttatavar temple from dawn in order to get married to Aravan. Transgender people who are brides are usually dressed in their finest attire, bangles, garlands. Various offerings are also carried. , kalasha, and thali made of turmeric. In the sanctuary, there are so many priests officiating at the weddings of the brides, each of whom will marry Aravan. The priests usually act as Aravan's representatives, tying the thali around the bride's neck and performing some of the things that symbolize marriage in Hinduism. That night and the next day, a transgender lady can have sex to mark the consummation of a marriage.[5]
Koovagam Koothandavar Idol
On the 16th day, the idol of Aravan was taken out and paraded. Newly married transgender women gather at a place called Azhukalam, which is a designated place of mourning. As the procession proceeds, many of the decorations on Aravan's body, such as flowers, are removed, signifying that Aravan was killed on the battlefield and his flesh and bones are removed. At this point Aravan's widows collectively remove their thalis, break their bangles and cry bitterly. Lamenting their widowhood. Their attire is usually white sarees, but the dress code is temporary and transgender widows can still wear bright colors after the ceremony. These transgender women in can still come back the following year to repeat this wedding ceremony.[5]
HIV/AIDS and NGOs
Although this Koovagam is very big in Tamil Nadu, there is still a very large stigma against transgender people. Being transgender is still something that to some people would be described as a curse and disgrace in the eyes of God.[9] This causes lots of transgender people in India to be kicked out and disowned by their families and communities.[3]
The transgender people who are kicked out are often forced to resort to things like sex work and bar dancing in order to support themselves.[3] People participating in this line of work would often become infected with HIV. 2.1 million people are infected with HIV/AIDS and the highest percentage of people infected come from the transgender community.[10] This high percentage comes from the lack of medical care that the transgender community has access to.[11] This is another result of the stigma towards the community.
A large part of the festival's message is to get rid of the stigma towards the transgender community to then ultimately lower the number of HIV infections. Non-Governmental Organizations or NGOs are working to help spread this message while also stopping the spread of HIV. One of these organizations is the Tamil Nadu AIDS Initiative which helps stop the spread of HIV through education on safe sex practices.[11] Another organization is Alliance India which provides better healthcare and access to medical supplies to the transgender community.[12]
Miss Koovagam
Miss Koovagam is an annual beauty pageant that occurs during the first 13 days of the Koovagam festival.
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