Kūttāṇtạvar’s Festivals: Tropicality, Transsexuality, Death & Rebirth in Tamil Mahābhārata Folk Cultures

In the tropical landscape of Tamil Nadu in southern India, the eighteen-day long festival of Kūttāṇtạvar offers insights into the interplay of transsexuality, death, and regeneration within Tamil Mahābhārata folk cultures. The complexities of queer identity and expression within the context of Tamil Nadu’s cultural landscape, with its entailing myths and rituals, include an understanding of tropicality and the Tamil ecocultural notion of tinai, as conceptual frameworks that shape human-environment interactions and cultural practices. This festival, which is held annually during the months of April-May, has synchronised its rituals with the hot and humid summers. Most of the activities associated with the festival are scheduled primarily during night or dawn hours to avoid the intense midday heat, thus reflecting a practical adaptation to the tropical climate. Within this setting, queer identities find expression through the rituals and myths associated with the Kūttāṇtạvar’s festivals. This paper illuminates the transformative potency of myths and rituals in shaping queer identities and traditions all within the intricate montage of folk cultures in Tamil Nadu.