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Tracing third gender in Tamil history

Published:  Dec 05,2016  11:08 AM by Yazh Iniyan

Tamil society was the only community to identify and integrate transgender better in
the mainstream. They were called as Uyarthinai by Thol Kaapiyar and along with
vallinam and mellinam they were referred to as idaiyinam in Tamil grammar.

Priya Babu, a researcher in transgender community issues, is also active in organic farming

Madurai: Apart from the Sangam books there were also mentions of transgender in inscriptions. Recently,

one such inscription was found near Tiruvannamalai and it had been sent for investigation to find out its

age, said Priya Babu speaking to DTNext.

Priya, a transgender who had been researching on their representation in history said, “The third gender

had always enjoyed a special place in history and thereby literature.” 

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Quoting Silapathigaram, she said, “There was a mention of transgender as ‘Aariya Pedigal’ in the epic.

Silapathigaram mentions that they were deployed in war and after victory, kings would also take them

from the defeated army.” 

“Thirumoolar had mentioned the reason for the birth of transgender. If both man and woman had the same

feelings during a physical relationship, transgender would be born. If the feelings of either man or woman

were higher, boy or girl child would be born respectively,” she said. 

Stating that there was ample evidence of their existence in the society even before 2,000 years ago, Priya

said they did not come all of a sudden. It was also mentioned in the literature that Queen Vedammal, wife

of King Cheran Senguttavan, had transgender as her aides. They were also mentioned as ‘Pennani

Pediyar’ meaning transgender who dress as women and were close to women. 

Seevaga Chinthamani, another Tamil epic, mentions about a transgender ‘Veenathibathi’. She was one of

the close friends of a princess Thathai mentioned in the work. Apart from that they were also mentioned in

Bhatki literature in Thiruvasagam, Priya said. 

Apart from literature, the first sculpture in 1,000 pillar mandapam in Madurai Meenakshi Sundareswarar

Temple has a transgender sculpted in a dancing pose. The Tirupudaimarudhur Temple too has a

sculpture in which a transgender was found in a dance posture with a big moustache. “This may be one of

the reasons that transgenders in south were more oriented towards dancing,” wondered Priya. A palm-leaf

manuscript on astrology had mentioned Mercury and Saturn as transgender planets, she said and added

that she has been involved in unearthing such interesting references of the third gender. 

“All such inferences show the high status they enjoyed in the society. Their deterioration started at the

same age when male chauvinism started to thrive,” she concluded.

(A section of Priya Babu’s collections of transgender literature and source materials in her centre)

A centre to help researchers in Madurai

In an effort to have an integrated centre for resource materials on transgender research, Priya Babu, who

is a researcher on the issue has been running a centre in Madurai. It helps students and scholars to find

books and materials on transgender issues under a single roof. “Dalits have a dedicated research centre

in Madurai and it has been open any time for researchers and public. No such centre existed in Madurai

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for transgender issues. So, I decided to setup one and started collecting books and other materials on the

subject all on my own,” Priya said.

She has a vast collection of books and documents on transgender issues which includes documentary

films. Priya had written four books and several essays on transgender and one of her book titled

‘Moonram Paalin Mugam’ meaning ‘Face of Third Gender’ has been included in the syllabus of a college. 

She had travelled throughout India and had been collecting literary and documentary works. Recently a

student named Mahalakshmi, from Thiagarajar College in Madurai, had done research on transgender

and had utilised the materials from the resource centre. The student had also submitted her thesis and a

copy of that was also available in the resource centre. Apart from that several students from Thoothukudi

and Sivakasi have been doing research with the help of the materials from her resource centre. 

“Many scholars have done very good research on transgender, but they are lying idle across libraries in

colleges as many don’t know the importance. I am involved in the process of bringing them out,” she

added. The resource centre would also help the government by providing data on transgender and the

problems faced by them. The centre aims to bridge the gap between the public and the transgender by

reorienting their perception, said Priya. 

‘Establishing identity is a tough battle’ 

Born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Priya came to India along with her family in 1977. At the age of 13, there

were physical changes in her. Priya got more oriented towards the female aspects in life. 

logical changes kept on subjecting her to medical treatments to ensure that he remain as a boy.

Unacceptance of her changing gender and compulsions from the family made Priya to run away from the

house to Mumbai after her higher secondary. At Mumbai, Priya got exposed to vast literature on

transgender. Inspired by her experiences in Mumbai, she came back to Tamil Nadu in 2001. Priya worked

in NGOs creating awareness about AIDS among the transgender in the state. “Initially, I faced

harassments at work place, but I overcame them with confidence,” she said and added that the main

problem transgender face was getting an identify for them. The identity crisis spurred her to file a writ

petition in March 2004 in the High Court along with other like-minded activists. The High Court ruled in

their favour and directed the government to issue voter identity cards to them. 

“It was first such case filed in India for the rights of transgender. We conducted a large-scale protest at

Tallakulam, which was also the first in India by transgender,” she said. In 2007, Priya wrote her first book

named ‘Aravanigalin Samooga Varaiviyal.’ At present Priya has been working on a historical documentary

by mapping the historical sculptures and paintings where transgender were portrayed. 

Demands: 

National-level body to represent transgender and redress grievances 

Welfare Board for them 

Special fund for implementing schemes for the community 

Centre must follow Supreme Court guidelines in giving recognition to them as third gender 

Common issues:

Struggling to find house for rent 

Harassment during travel 

Getting room in hotels to stay 

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