Epics and mythology have been the bedrock of what one calls the ‘collective unconscious’. Hence the role of these two in shaping the mind-set of the communities concerned cannot be underestimated. No amount of changes in the material conditions of life seems to help in altering the perceptions that are deemed legitimized, acceptable and praiseworthy. Some of the concepts that haunt Indian psyche in terms of gender are chastity, motherhood, caste affiliation and sexuality. What is intriguing is the way in which these stipulations are transgressed by different characters in critical moments. Kunti giving birth to Pandavas can be cited as a case in point. Or the mode by which Dritharashtra, Pandu and Vidhura are born through niyoga with Vyasa.
Sexuality is a tabooed subject to be discussed, while childbirth is not. The functional aspect of heterosexual relationship as leading to childbirth is a site of contested values in itself. Any other sexual desire or relationship is in general viewed as ‘abnormal’ and ‘unnatural’. Still the epics and myths abound in references to stray moments of homosexuality or transsexual acts. Since Ramayana is steeped in didacticism, more of these instances are found in Mahabharatha. Ramayana, however, refers to trans-people stranded at the border of Ayodhya for fourteen long years, since he ordered his citizens—men and women—to return to the city, and not them!
Mahabharatha abounds in many references to trans persons. Lord Krishna tops the list by his Mohini Avatar. She is the enchantress par excellence! Seductive and conniving she is the very embodiment of ‘moga’—lustful love. Mohini steals the pot of nector from the asuras and hands it over to the gods when Lord Vishnu provides the Amrit in the sea of milk. She brings forth Sastha or Ayyappa through her sexual intercourse with Lord Shiva. She also spends a night with Aravan, the guinea pig who was sacrificed at the Kurukshetra war. A young man with all the 32 lakshanas of a handsome male, Aravan demands two boons—to break his celibacy and to watch the war. In order to gratify him sexually, Lord Krishna, his uncle, appears as Mohini. And of course his head watches the war. It is this episode that is observed in many temples on the full-moon day of Chithirai (April-May).
Koovagam, a village in Villupuram district is the most popular of these temples in Tamil Nadu. Many transgender people from all over the world congregate there. It is almost a pilgrimage undertaken by them. The evening of the first day marks their marriage with Aravan. The temple priest ties the thali to them. Aravan appears in full regalia on a temple car. There are many families that offer their prayers during this time by adorning themselves as a woman. The next day morning his head is cut off. The transgender people break bangles, remove their kum kum and wear white sarees to signify widowhood. Many of them also observe ten to sixteen days of grief at the death of this one-night husband. To this day, the yellow sacred threads cut off their necks and thrown on the mound of mud, the broken glass bangles that are strewn all over and the wailing of the transgenders truly evoke the battlefield. The remnants of war suffered by the widows loom large. The juxtaposition of pleasure and grief is too overpowering.
Tamilnadu has a continuous tradition of Aravan/Koothandavar festival over centuries in different parts of the State. Alf Hiltebeital refers to the existence of this practice in different parts of India, with minor changes.
Another major tale found in Mahabharatha is that of Amba-Shikandin. Amba, Princess of Kashi, is perhaps as old as Bhishma, the patriarch of the epic. Abducted by Bhishma along with her two sisters, to be married to his weak younger brother and King Vichitravirya, she confesses her love for Salva; she is sent back to her lover; the lover refuses to accept her as she has been lost to another Prince; she argues that Bhisma, the avowed bachelor should live with her since he abducted her; she denied the proxy abduction he undertook and refused to live with the King. Beaten back and forth from one end to the other, she resolves to seek her vendetta against Bhisma.
Upon her unswerving tapas she received a boon to be re-born in the house of Drupada and become a male by exchange of body with a yaksha and later hone her skills as a warrior. She becomes Shikandi, the warrior. It is her arrows that pierce Bhisma, even though he refuses to fight her/him, since he knows of her past life. I have worked on this myth in my play Pani Thee translated as Frozen Fire (2004).
Bahuchara Mata is the iconic goddess riding on a rooster, fully armed. It is said that while she and her sisters were travelling in a caravan Bapiya, a marauder attacked them. As is customary, the charans—a caste considered divine—proclaimed tragu, self-punishment, by cutting of their breasts. Cursed by the spilling of charan blood, Bapiya became impotent. He made amends by worshipping the Mata dressed as a woman. His curse was lifted thereupon. Situated in a temple 100km from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, it is a shrine visited by transgender people throughout the year. The temple is said to have been built in 1782 by Rajah Manaji Gaekwad. Nobody kills the cocks and hens in that town. Most of the prayer services and shops in and around the temple are managed by the transgender people.
It is important to note that the naqqals of Punjab are musicians and travelling bards. They are female impersonators telling tales with songs and dances. In modern Indian theatre Neelam Mansingh has a team of naqqals as part of her theatre group. She has addressed the question of their sexuality and the way they imitate femininity in great detail on various occasions. And female impersonation is still the norm in most folk/ traditional performing arts. Even as late as early modernity setting in with the advent of parsi theatre, one finds female impersonation being an acceptable tradition in performance. It is also the case in many Asian cultures.
If gender is performative and sexuality, a question of choice it is certainly echoed in the epics, myths and performance traditions of India. It is therefore a misnomer to conceive of heteronormativity as the only culturally sanctioned system. As in most communities with long oral and written traditions of culture, India too provides a space for at least token inclusivity. The criticism on non-heterosexual imaginings as western imports does not make sense if one takes into account these versions found in the epics and myths. Of course they were not advocated or eulogized; there was an element of scorning these inclusions as exception and not the rule. But the existence of these behaviors/persons is undeniably recorded in the epic and mythological narratives.
Kunti had a sacred mantra taught her by Sage Durvasa for her services in her pre-pubescent years. According to that she can chant that mantra with a man of her choice and he would oblige her with sexual gratification and a child. The pandavas were born thus to Lords Yama, Vayu and Indra and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva were born to Madri and Aswini brothers.
In order to have an heir to the kingdom sexual relationship was permitted on a temporary basis.
reference: http://ildaro.blogspot.in/2014/03/sexuality-in-indian-epics-and-mythology.html
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