BBYJUSSAB @bbyjussab - Tumblr Blog

standingatthefence

Ed van der Elsken | Transvestites, Old Delhi, India (1977)

oddpairofeyes

femmes marocaines partie I // moroccan women part I

pyrocult

arjuna-vallabha

March 24 and 25, mark the two main days of the Chamaya-vilakku crossdressing festival in Chavara, India (Kerala). It is the first of four major crossdressing festivals held in India during the vasanta or spring season and occurs on the tenth and eleventh nights after the Mina-sankranti. The Chamaya-vilakku festival is held at the Kottankulangara temple in Kerala. For two nights during the month of Chaitra, thousands of men of all types dress up as women and offer themselves to Sri Bhagavati-devi, an expansion of the goddess Durga. In a special ceremony called Chamaya-vilakku, women and crossdressing men grasp tall, lighted lamps and wait for the procession of the goddess in the form of a sila or stone to pass by. The goddess Bhagavati then blesses the pilgrims and showers all good fortune upon them. The crossdressing festival is based on a story surrounding the temple’s origin: Long ago, a group of cowherd boys worshiped a stone in the mood of shy, young girls. After some time, the goddess Bhagavati personally appeared before them to accept their worship and become the stone. The Kottankulangara temple was then constructed to house the stone deity and formal worship was commenced, along with the annual festival. The Chamaya-vilakku celebrations are very well organized; the crossdressing men are registered at the temple and makeup, dresses, wigs and jewelry are all available for rent on site.

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Rekha (1980)

imagerymoodboard

It’s about the implications of coming from people who survived. It’s about the significance of positive nurturance and how the people who surround you can mend or exacerbate the trauma that brought you here. It’s about family.

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