{"id":6106,"date":"2016-04-29T03:31:48","date_gmt":"2016-04-29T03:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalpress.hinduismnow.org?p=6103&amp;preview_id=6103"},"modified":"2016-04-29T03:31:48","modified_gmt":"2016-04-29T03:31:48","slug":"at-simhastha-kumbh-kinnar-akhara-becomes-a-huge-draw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/?p=6106","title":{"rendered":"At Simhastha Kumbh, Kinnar Akhara becomes a huge draw | The Indian Express"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>The transgender community that continues to fight discrimination over gender identity has found acceptance at Simhastha Kumbh.<\/p>\n<p>The separate Kinnar Akhara at the religious congregation has become such a draw that bouncers have been deployed to regulate flow of visitors. In contrast, some mainstream Akharas have been struggling to attract devotees.<\/p>\n<p>An image of Ardhnarishwara \u2014 an amalgamation of the male-female form in Lord Shiva \u2013 forms the backdrop for the Kinnar Akhara\u2019s main stage.<\/p>\n<p>While the main functionaries sit in front and bless devotees, some transgenders take turns to dance to religious melodies.<\/p>\n<p>Crowd management has, however, become a problem. \u201cI request you, let me work. Please don\u2019t stand here, it\u2019s not a park,\u2019\u2019 says a transgender on the mic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnke pas barkat ka account hai (They can bless you with prosperity). They are sadhus and they are beautiful,\u2019\u2019 says Kalpana Sharma, a resident of Indore, while equating the transgenders with Hindu saints. Her family believes that the sacred rice given to her by a transgender will bring them prosperity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIslam is the dominating religion among transgenders, though a majority of them are Hindus when they join the community. It\u2019s a kind of homecoming because by wearing saffron robes they have embraced Hinduism,\u2019\u2019 said Rishi Ajay Das, patron of the Akhara formed in October last year. \u201cTransgenders are sadhus in the real sense of the term because they are born brahmacharis and don\u2019t believe in caste. They are the genuine torchbearers of Sanatan Dharma,\u2019\u2019 says Das.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey once enjoyed religious sanction, but lost it in course of time. By taking part in important rituals of Simhastha Kumbh, their status has been re-established,\u2019\u2019 says a member of the Akhara that has not been granted recognition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"http:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/india-news-india\/at-simhastha-kumbh-kinnar-akhara-becomes-a-huge-draw-2775463\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">At Simhastha Kumbh, Kinnar&#8217;s Akhara\u00a0 becomes a huge draw | The Indian Express<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The transgender community that continues to fight discrimination over gender identity has found acceptance at Simhastha Kumbh. The separate Kinnar Akhara at the religious congregation has become such a draw that bouncers have been deployed to regulate flow of visitors. In contrast, some mainstream Akharas have been struggling to attract devotees. An image of Ardhnarishwara [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[1159],"tags":[1495,1496,1497,1473],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6106"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6106\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}