VILLUPURAM: The grand yearly festival at Koovagam village, celebrating womanhood embraced by trans women, began on Tuesday with trans women tying holy thread at the Koothandavar temple in Koovagam village in Kallakurichi, with over 5,000 trans women flocking the town for the festival.
On Monday night, the beauty pageant Miss Koovagam was conducted by the South Indian Transgender Federation along with the District Social Welfare department in Villupuram. Riya from Erode won the Miss Koovagam title, while Negha from Tuticorin and Yuvangelin John from Chennai secured the first and second spots respectively.
As the folktale goes, lord Koothandavar of the temple sought to marry a trans woman the night before he sacrificed himself in the war of the epic fiction, Mahabharat. So, trans women from across the country come to the temple to have their holy threads tied before the deity. And as Koothandavar would be killed the next day, the trans women break their thaalis as an act mourning for their dead husband.