Kerala: Men cross-dress, offer prayers on 'Chamayavilakku' at Kottankulangara Sree Devi temple

Men of all ages dress up as women at the two-day annual festival at this temple where they light lamps and offer their prayers as how their opposite gender would usually do.

Kollam (Kerala):In a unique and one-of-its-kind festival, men dress up in traditional women's dress and offer prayers. This is the 'Chamayavilakku' festival that takes place at the Kottankulangara Sree Devi Temple in Kerala's Kollam district. The two-day annual festival began on Friday and will conclude on Saturday night after performing traditional rituals.

Hundreds of men dress up as women to offer prayers to the deities. Even the transgender community participates in the fest with enthusiasm. According to local beliefs, a group of men who used to herd cows would dress up as girls and offer flowers to a stone, which became the norm. The first puja of the temple was held by a group of these men and the ritual and came to become the annual festivity. Now, men of all age groups throng the temple every year in womanly garb with lamps in their hands to please the deity.

One version of a local legend on how the temple came to being goes like this: a group of boys used to play around a stone. One day, the children tried breaking a coconut with a stone. The stone suddenly started bleeding. The children rushed home and informed their families about the incident.

The families then called the priests from the vicinity. Upon visiting the site, the local priests said that the stone contained the divine energy of 'Vanadurga', a goddess. They advised the villagers to build a temple there. The festival is celebrated on the tenth and eleventh of the Malayalam month 'Meenam'.

While some of the devotees are dressed up by their family members, a grooming room is set up near the temple two days before the celebrations for some of the devotees to get ready and do their make over. In the 19-day-long temple festival, the cross-dressing event is scheduled as the last item. In those last two days, men from all walks of lives who wishes to to please the main deity dress up as women and perform this ritual.