16th
April 2019.
It
was a two-day trip to the Koothandavar Temple at Koovagam, near Thiruvennainallur. The annual 18-day festival is in progress, and I wish to attend the important functions on the 16th of April 2019 and the morning of the 17th: the chariot procession (on Chitra
pournami day). Even though there are many Koothandavar temples from Cuddalore
to Coimbatore, this Koothandavar temple festival is special and popular.
This
temple is dedicated to Aravan, also called Koothandavar. Transgender people from various parts of India and
abroad used to assemble on the above two
days to celebrate and worship the Aravan of
this temple.
Decorated Aravan Chariot
The
presiding deity: Aravan, also called Koothandavar.
Some
of the salient features of this temple and the festival are…
ARCHITECTURE
The
temple faces east. The temple consists of the sanctum sanctorum, artha mandapam, and the open mukha mandapam. In the sanctum, Koothandavar's head is kept and worshiped. The artha mandapam has pillars that seem to
be of the Nayakas period. Stucco images of the Chariot with Arjuna are on the top of the mandapam.
LEGENDS
This temple is associated with the Epic Mahabharata. The story goes like
this...
The war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas is about to start. It was said that for the Pandavas to win, they had to
sacrifice a good-looking, handsome, good-character man to Kali. In the Pandava team, Krishna, Arjuna, and Arjuna’s son Aravan, who was born
to Arjuna and Vettua Girl Nagakanni, had the qualifications. Since Arjuna and
Krishna were essential for the Mahabharata war, they decided to sacrifice Aravan.
Aravan accepted the sacrifice if three conditions were met. The three conditions
were to marry a Girl and live for a day as husband and wife. The second
condition was that he must see the 18-day war scene. The third was that people should
worship him in temples.
Nobody
came forward to marry him for one day of married life. So Krishna took Mohini form,
married Aravan, and lived for a day. Aravan
was sacrificed before Kali, and Krishna kept the head alone to see the 18 days of war.
TRANSGENDER CELEBRATIONS
To match this 18-day Mahabharata war, the annual celebrations in this temple will also be held for 18 days. On the 16th day, thousands of transgender people assemble at the temple, dressing themselves like brides and tying
mangalsutras through temple priests. This signifies that they consider
themselves Mohinis and marry Aravan. (Normal people also tie a mangalsutra for prayers... like illness, marriage, Childbirth, etc.). The whole night, the transgender people celebrate their one-day married life by singing and dancing.
At the same time, the
chariot will be assembled, for which the hands, legs, chest, and body were brought from nearby
villages. The head will be taken from the temple. The body of the Aravan will be
built using straw and leaves. The Chariot will be decorated with garlands and
flowers.
The next morning, the chariot
procession will start from the temple. It will circumambulate the temple, and
then it will be pulled to Aazhikalam, also called Pandaladi. On reaching
Pandaladi, a pooja will be conducted. The head will be taken to the temple, which signifies
the sacrifice of Aravan. The transgender will cut the mangalsutra tied on the previous day, break the bangles, and remove the thilak & flowers. They form
a group and cry & mourn the death of their husband, Aravan. Some used to wear white sarees to
signify that they had become widows. Finally, they disperse and proceed to their
native places.
HOW TO REACH:
Special
buses will run from Viluppuram to Koovagam
on festival days.
About
6 km from Thiruvennainallur and 3 km from Periyasevalai.
Share
autos are available from Thiruvennainallur and Periyasevalai.
The nearest
Railway Station is Viluppuram.
LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE: CLICK HERE
Decorated Aravan Chariot
Preparation of Aravan Chariot
Dressing like a bride
The priest ties the mangal sutra
Normal people also tie the mangal sutra for prayer.
Breaking bangles
Mourn the death of Aravan
Mourn the death of Aravan
Mourn the death of Aravan
Mourn the death of Aravan
Mourn the death of Aravan
The removed mangal sutras and flowers
Broken bangles
Had
gone to this temple once again on 08th June 2019 as part of an ancient
temple visit around Viluppuram. There was no rush in the temple; very few
people came for darshan. As we have seen
earlier, the removed head of Aravan or Koothandavar from the chariot was kept
in the sanctum on an oonjal. The head
will be in the sanctum till the next thiruvizha.
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