Mayana Kollai rituals in Tamil Nadu connect transgender and marginalized communities to ancient myths

The Mayana Kollai ritual, celebrated in Tamil Nadu during the Tamil month of Maasi (February/March) on a new moon day, intertwines with folk tales of deities like Angalamman and Shiva. Approximately 90% of celebrants in the past year were transgender individuals—those assigned male at birth identifying as female—and marginalized slum-dwellers from Madras, with women outnumbering men. These rituals, involving necrophagia and trance dancing at cremation grounds, offer an outlet for communities historically oppressed, including after the Indian Supreme Court repealed Section 377 in September 2018, which had criminalized 'carnal intercourse against the order of nature.' Transgender people in India often face isolation, limited to occupations like fortune-telling, sex work, or mendicancy, and live in slums amid urban development in Madras. The article references Eveline Meyer's 1986 work 'Ankalaparamecuvari: A Goddess of Tamilnadu, Her Myths and Cult' and Oscar Lewis's 1966 concept of 'Culture of Poverty,' highlighting how myths and rituals provide identity and resilience. Despite India's history of erotic temple art, such as in the Kama Sutra, societal taboos persist, with the Supreme Court also removing Section 497 on extramarital sex in September 2018. The author's field studies include interactions with individuals like Valarmathi, who participates in Mayana Kollai by biting off rooster heads, and notes assistance from friends including Shalin Maria Lawrence and Vijay Balaji.