This time Kolkata will have a Durga Puja arranged by transgenders with an Ardhanarishvar idol

Pandals mushroom across Kolkata every year on the occasion of Durga Puja, each year each locality has a different decor and a different theme. The decors of some these pandals are inspired by several factors including current affairs, social issues and even Bollywood. But this year, the Udyami Yubak Brinda Durga Puja is doing something that will make history. The Huffington Post reports that with the help of the Pratyay Gender Trust, a local transgender collective, this Durga Puja pandal will have India’s first transgender Durga idol. [caption id=“attachment_2469876” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Sandip Roy/ Firstpost[/caption] This was with the help of about twelve transgender women who are part of the trust. The idol will be fashioned after the Ardhanarishvar or half Shiv half Parvati. However, this came about after several protest from members of the community. But at they end of the day the trust made it happen. Anindya Hajra, one of Pratyay’s founder members told The Huffington Post, “We are conscious how sites of worship and associated rituals have Brahminical associations and often act as a site of misogyny, prejudice and violence. Ours is an attempt to question these practices and caste/ class structures and to cross gender lines.” Earlier IANS had reported that spurred by the discriminatory gaze they are subjected to during pandal visits, the transgender community have taken matters into their own hands. All the arrangements of the puja, which was budgeted at Rs 1.5 lakhs too was arranged by members of Pratyay. Another member of the trust told IANS, “Whenever we visit pandals, we are seen in a derogatory way. We are trying to end this discrimination and create scope for conversation between communities where we and our families live. Everyone is welcome to visit our pandal.” A performance by troupe of a senior transgender artist will inaugurate the puja on 18 October.