Beliefs, a ‘scientifically proven’ fact or ‘way of living’ of many sanctities intrigues me in general. Today, somebody I started a conversation with, set the wheel spinning again, creating an oxymoron between the belief and it’s way of living.
Unsure at most times on what the politically or emotionally correct way of addressing these people is, I choose the word ‘Didi’. After convincing her that I really don’t have change, I started to generally observe their status quo.
In our society today, being a ‘Chakka’ is the biggest misfortune, but the presence of these misfortunates is considered auspicious on many occasions. Strange?! I think so to.
So how does dissociation long for association suddenly? Eunuchs today may have regressed in identity, but history holds them in high honour.
Lord Shiva
One of the forms of Lord Shiva merges with Parvati where together they’re Ardhanari, a form especially worshipped in North India
The Ramayan
In some versions of the Ramayan, when Ram leaves Ayodhya for his 14-year exile, a devoted mass follows him into the forest. Seeing this, he tells them not to mourn, and that all the "men and women" of his kingdom should return to their places in Ayodhya. When he returns after 14 years, he finds that the Eunuchs, being neither men nor women, have not moved from the place where he gave his speech. Impressed with their devotion, Ram grants them the boon to confer blessings on people during auspicious inaugural occasions like childbirth and weddings.
The Mahabharat
Mahabharata includes an episode in which Arjun, a hero of the epic, is sent into an exile. There he assumes an identity of a Eunuch and performs rituals during weddings and childbirths that are now performed by the lot we see.
Also in the Mahabharat, before the Kurukshetra War, Ahiravan offers his lifeblood to goddess Kali to ensure the victory of the Pandavas. On the night before the battle, Aravan expresses a desire to get married before he dies. No woman was willing to marry a man doomed to die in a few hours, so Krishna assumes the form of a beautiful woman called Mohini and marries him. In South India, Eunuchs claim Aravan as their progenitor and call themselves "aravanis."
In Islam
In Hyderabad, a group of Muslim converts were circumcised, something seen as the quintessential marker of male Muslim identity. The nirvan operation (removal of all male genitalia) is generally seen as an exaggerated circumcision ritual. In addition to these "male" rituals, the eunuchs took on "female" practices from Islam such as veiling.
