A group of boys dress up as women and a legendary temple is born.

Once a year in the south of Kerala, Chavara, a small, nondescript town comes to life with a quaint and intriguing ten-day temple festival. Situated on the highway between Kollam (once Quilon) and Karunagapilly, Chavara comes alive with pomp and splendour in late March, as it celebrates the benevolence of Goddess Vana Durga, the reigning deity, protector and caretaker of the forests.

The Karungapilly temple festival is particularly significant for its distinctive and curious representation of gender and sexuality within the cultural context of Hindu mythology and temple culture.

The Kottankulangara Devi temple is on the banks of a small, bathing pool off the highway to Chavara. The name conjures up the indigenous mythological tale attached to the existence of this otherwise simple and unassuming temple town.

The word "kottan" refers to the residue of ground coconut (after the coconut milk has been extracted from it). This is traditionally used as cattle feed. "Kulangara" means on the banks of a pond ("kulam" meaning a pond and "kara" banks). And herein lies a tale…

Long years ago, when the rigidly hierarchical caste system forbade people of lower castes from entering Hindu temples, a group of young goatherds were playing on the fringes of a forest. As their goats grazed, the boys decided to play-act as highercaste people going to a temple to pray.

They enacted a mock "pooja" or ritual worship around a stone object they had come across in the fields. While doing so, the boys dressed themselves as young girls and made an elaborate offering with the ground coconut residue or "kottan" that they had. They made decorations around and above the stone from fresh and young coconut leaves called "kuruthola".

While they were enacting this ritual, a beautiful damsel emerged from the forest. She approached the boys and asked them what they were doing. When they said that they were praying and performing pooja, she was happy and blessed them and left after giving them a sweet dish to share among themselves. Excited, the boys went home that night and narrated to everyone the strange incident.

The next day, the villagers went to the spot and found the stone. A priest was called to divine what had transpired. He learnt that it was indeed Vana Durga, the goddess and protector of the forest who, pleased with the devotion of these boys, had come to bless them. She had revealed herself. In the process, she said that she would bless male devotees who came to her seeking a boon only if they were in female attire, and carried out the same ritual as the young boys. Furthermore, around the stone the boys had worshipped, a temple was to be built without a roof as the idol had to be exposed to the elements of nature -- the sun, rain and wind--as would be any other creature or object in the forest.

When the villagers called a sculptor to engrave and carve out the figurine of the goddess, it was believed to have started bleeding. Hence the stone was left untouched and remains without any specific shape, just as the boys had found it. Later on, figurines of the goddess were added as embellishments at the base of the stone structure.

As in most temple festivals in Kerala, caparisoned elephants with musical accompaniments are brought out during the ten-day period. Only on the last two days of the festival, the men come out dressed in feminine attire and light lamps called "chamaya vilakke" ('chamayam" meaning makeup and "vilakke" ceremonial lamps). They welcome the goddess and pray to her as she is taken out in a procession from the temple premises on an elephant to tour her realm (the village around the temple). The devotees wait for this procession till early in the morning, lining up on either side of the road leading to the temple.

Today, this temple has become increasingly popular in Kerala The power of the Goddess to grant a devotee's desires has become widespread in many parts of the State and devotees from neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka also descend on the place. In the past few years, television and the print media have been covering this festival in earnest, increasing its visibility.

This is my sixth year at the festival. Today, I am struck by how the original myth of this temple and its peculiar and distinctive rituals have been transformed over the years. Talking to people associated with or attending the festival, it was clear that the temple's subversion of normative male and caste identities and its transcendence of traditional patriarchal codes had now been obscured.

As word of the temple festival spread, I came across many friends and acquaintances participating in it regularly as they found this a beautiful and religiously-sanctioned occasion to explore and express their feminine selves, unabashedly.

Shyam, with two close friends, Bharath and Sundar, is from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala's capital. They have been participating in the festivities for the past three years. They are all graduates and in their early 20s. "We find this temple a valid outing to express our femininity without the fear of being ridiculed and harassed. We come with the knowledge and support of our families as we are here to seek the blessings of the goddess so that she fulfills our wishes. Hence, we have no fear of being 'found out' as being gay."

Raj, in his early 30s, has been participating for the past ten years along with two close friends. "For me, it's a time to revel and enjoy my feminine side. I can dress up and look beautiful as a woman to attract all the good-looking men at the festival. I enjoy the attention men give me here!"

Biju, in his mid-30s, a Christian, is a cook from Thrissur, and this is his sixth year. "I came to fulfill the wishes of my employer. She knows that I'm gay and come to this festival every year. She wants a good job for her daughter, so this year I'm dressing up and taking part on her behalf. She has paid for all my expenses for this trip - even for this silk sari I'm wearing. When the goddess fulfills her wish, she will have to come with her daughter to this temple and thank her." Biju adds: "Though the crossdressing part to the temple festivities is for two days, I'm only participating in the rituals the first day. The second day, I'm dressing up for fun and to enjoy all the male attention!"

Other devotees who came to this festival, and who were not from the sexual minority community, had varied reasons for participating.

Kishore works in a medical lab and is in his early 30s. He got married five years ago and has a girl child. "Now we want a boy child and so I've come to this temple for the first time, to seek the blessings of the goddess.

I've come with my brother-in-law and a colleague. For all of us, this is the first time."

Dinesh is a 23-year-old electrician from a neighbouring town. "I was born after my parents had come to this temple and prayed for a boy child. Hence, I have been participating every year, since the age of five! I carry the lamp and cross-dress on the second day only. The first day, I come with my friends just to enjoy the festival!"

Rajesh, a 26-year-old sportsman, hails from a nearby town. "I've been coming every year with my friends, just to look at the beautiful boys dressed up and have fun. This year, though, is different. I dressed up only for the first day, because I had a wish I wanted to be fulfilled. The second was the usual fun day!"

Joy, a 28-year-old army man, comes every year on leave, to be part of this interesting festival. "I make sure I get my leave around this time of the year so that I can attend and enjoy this festival. My hometown is close by but I had heard about this festival only recently. This is my fifth year running. I love to take pictures of the pretty boys who come here!"

The festival's popularity has grown as also the comfort level of the heterosexual men (accompanied by their family members/friends) as they dressed up as pretty women. Surprisingly, however, the temple officials are getting increasingly strict with the dress codes. The mythology of the temple seems to have been toned down from that of sexual identity and self-exploration to that of an ambiguously religious one. The gay men, who come every year and are increasing in numbers, seem to be making the temple management uneasy, as their sexuality comes to the fore in such an open manner!