Koovagam- The Transgender Festival
India is a land of festivals. The beauty of it is there are as many festivals
as its people who belong to different communities, religions, castes,
and sub-castes. One of the festivals is unique that gathers transgender
and transvestite individuals from across the country in an otherwise
quiet and sleepy village of Koovagam in Kallakuruchi district of Tamil
Nadu. This eighteen-day-long annual festival that transforms this village
into a hub of activities is also called Koovagam, and is held at the
Koothandavar temple dedicated to Lord Iravan.
One finds mention of Iravan in sage Veda Vyasa’s grand epic,
Mahabharata. For Pandavas to emerge victorious in the Kurukshetra
war, a sacrifice to appease goddess Kali and seek her blessings was
mandated. Iravan, the son of Pandava Arjuna and Naga princess Ulupi
offered to sacrifice his life for the cause of the greater good. His last
wish before his impending death was to get married and enjoy marital
bliss even if it meant for a day. With a dagger hanging on his head, no
woman willingly came forward to marry him. So, Lord Krishna took the
form of Mohini and married him. Filled with the satisfaction of having
lived a married man’s life, Iravan sacrificed his life the next day to
enable his kin to win the grand war. Mohini is heartbroken and mourns
the death of her husband like every other wife before once again
transforming to Lord Krishna.
Mohini is the only female avatar of Lord Vishnu, who is the epitome of
beauty and feminine charm, and grace. She appeared in this form
during the Samudra Manthan (churning of the Ocean) to take away the
pot of amrita(an elixir of immortality) from the asuras(demons) and
gives it back to the devas(heavenly Gods)
Mohini is also the reason for the death of the demon Bhasmasura
whose mere touch could turn one to ashes. She is the mother of Lord
Ayappa, who was the outcome of the union of Hari(Lord Vishnu) and
Hara(Lord Shiva) and who took birth to kill the demoness Mahishi.
Koovagam festival, in particular, commemorates this union of Iravan
and Lord Krishna in the form of Mohini from our great epic. In the
eighteen days festival, the first sixteen days involve a lot of cultural
activities in the form of singing, dancing, and even beauty pageants are
held allowing these people, who are otherwise ostracized by society, to
showcase their talent and skills. Various seminars and awareness skits
are also conducted by NGOs.
The seventeenth-day festival is the most prominent one when many
transgender women dressed in bright sarees, adorning make-up,
jewellery turn into brides-to-be and visit the temple to marry their Lord
Iravan. The priest at the temple completes this dream by tying the
mangalsutra around their necks, signifying the union of Iravan and Lord
Krishna in the form of Mohini. A huge image of the severed head of
Lord Iravan is carried out in a procession and the crowds throng on the
streets to witness the same.
In real life, these women might not get to see themselves as brides but
that dream of theirs is realised during this one day. This joy, happiness
for them, of being a married woman is short-lived as the next day that
is on the eighteenth day, they get together to mourn the death of their
Lord Iravan,s who made a supreme sacrifice in the war. The priest
removes their mangalsutra and all of them let out a cry, their shrieks fill
up the atmosphere turning the occasion into a somber one, and as they
embrace their widowhood like Mohini by removing their makeup and
forcefully breaking their bangles, thus bringing an end to the festivity.
Indeed must be a heart-wrenching scene.
Like every festival teaches us something, Koovagam festival teaches us
the impermanence of life. Neither is joy permanent nor is sorrow, they
are just cycles of life. Embracing both, one has to move ahead in life.
The Koovagam festival, especially of and for the Transgender
communities, moves them from the darkness of humiliation, ridicule,
and ostracism to the light of awareness, self-worth, and new
associations.
References:
https://www.holidify.com/pages/koovagam-festival-4151.html
