This book describes the 18-day festival in Tamil Nadu which sees thousands of transgender women

Train journeys aren’t always fun, and they’re even less so when you’re travelling in an unreserved compartment packed to capacity on a hot Indian summer day. A couple of hours after we boarded, Manu and I managed to find a seat. We stowed our bags beneath the seat and started surfing the internet for information about the Koovagam festival.

We realised that we would be arriving at the festival on the evening of the 16th day. All sources confirmed that that was when the festival peaked.

The aravanis, which is the Tamil word to usually describe transgender women, arrive in Koovagam in ever-growing numbers from the 14th to the 16th day. Preceding their symbolic wedding to Aravan on the penultimate day, they dance with the flower crown of the deity, which is believed to possess his power. This is a traditional ceremony which the aravanis celebrate by singing their favourite songs.

After the ceremony of adorning the idol is complete and the ritual dance is over, on the day of the wedding, the thali ceremony begins. The thali, a traditional mark of a married woman in Tamil Nadu, is a pendant, usually made of gold or other precious metals, that is tied around the neck. In...

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