Synonyms
Introduction
Aravani is a Tamil term for male-to-female transgendered person also known as transwoman and transsexual in many other parts of the world. An aravani is a male by birth but chooses to become a woman as the individual feels that he is a woman dwelling in a man’s body. Susan Stryker in Transgender History defines “transgender” as a broad category, referring to people “who move away from the gender they were assigned at birth, people who cross over (trans-) the boundaries constructed by their culture to define and contain the gender” [1]. They are popularly known as hijra in the northern parts of India. The male after he undergoes the emasculation is known as aravani. The term “aravani” could have originated from the myth of Aravan from the Mahabharat, which is often quoted by the male-to-female transgenders in Tamil Nadu, who also consider him as a deity and worship him. Aravan or Iravan is the son of Arjuna...
References
Stryker S (2008) Transgender history. Seal Press, Berkley
Bahadur KP, Chib SS (1977) The castes, tribes & culture of India: north-eastern India: volume 8 of caste, tribes & culture of India: Assam. Ess Ess Publications, University of Michigan
Hiltebeitel A (1988) The cult of Draupadi: mythologies: from Gingee to Kuruksetra. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Bharadvaja S (2008) Vyasa’s Mahabharatam. Academic, West Bengal
Hiltebeitel A (1995) Dying before the Mahabharata war: martial and transsexual body-building for Aravan. J Asian Stud 54(2):447–473. https://doi.org/10.2307/2058746
Mitra MN (2010) The brides of Aravan. http://www.cmagazine.in/reportage/brides-aravan
Fairs and festivals of the Vanniyars. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/135538/10/10_chapter%205.pdf
Nanda S (1999) Neither man nor woman. Wadsworth Publishing Company, Canada
Thomas TM (2013) The clan culture of Hijras: an exploration into the gender identity and status of Hijras inside and outside Gharanas. https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/first-transgender-police-officer-of-india-969654-2017-04-05
Kannan R (2009) Call for awareness of LGBT issues. https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/Call-for-awareness-of-LGBT-issues/article16586150.ece
Menon J (2007) First insurance scheme for transgenders, sex workers. http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/first-insurance-scheme-for-transgenders-sex-workers/207304/
5 transgenders we should be proud of. https://www.indiatvnews.com/buzz/life/transgenders-in-india-204.html
India’s first transgender police officer appointed in Tamil Nadu. https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/first
Ramkumar P, Karthick S (2012) Meet India’s first transgender pastor. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Meet-Indias-first-transgender-pastor/articleshow/11772802.cms
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature B.V.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Selvaraj, S.D. (2019). Aravani (Transgender). In: Jain, P., Sherma, R., Khanna, M. (eds) Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_830-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_830-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-024-1036-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-024-1036-5
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities