love desire and gender © Abul Kalam Azad /pigment print 2013

 

LOVE desirE and GendeR  Koovagam festival of transgender  { day ONE }

  

love desire and gender © Abul Kalam Azad /pigment print 2013

Koovagam is a village in the Ulundurpettai taluk in Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu. It is famous for its annual festival of transgender and transvestite individuals, which takes fifteen days in the Tamil month of Chitrai (April/May). The festival takes place at the Koothandavar Temple dedicated to Aravan (Koothandavar). The participants marry the Lord Koothandavar, thus reenacting an ancient myth of Lord Vishnu/Krishna who married him after taking a form of a woman called Mohini. The next day, they mourn the god Koothandavar's death through ritualistic dances and by breaking their bangles. An annual beauty pageant and several other competitions like singing contests are held. Basic rights of transgender and transvestite individuals and health care are discussed in seminars too. People from different places travel to this festival. Location From Viluppuram 25 km and from Ulundurpet 15 km.

love desire and gender © Abul Kalam Azad /pigment print 2013

love desire and gender © Abul Kalam Azad /pigment print 2013

love desire and gender © Abul Kalam Azad /pigment print 2013

''Ginjee'' 9th century AD

Originally the site of a small fort built by the Chola dynasty in 9th century AD, it was later modified by Kurumbar while fighting the Chola and again by the Vijayanagar empire in the 13th century to elevate it to the status of an unbreachable citadel to protect the small town of Gingee. The fort was built as a strategic place of fending off any invading armies. The fort was further strengthened by the Marathas under the leadership of Shivaji in 1677 AD, who recaptured it from the Bijapur sultans who had originally taken control of the fort from the Marathas. During Aurangzeb's campaign in the Deccan, Shivaji's second son who had assumed the throne, Chhatrapati Rajaram, escaped to Ginjee in the distant South and continued the fight with Moghuls from Ginjee. The Moghuls could not capture the fort for seven years in spite of laying siege. The fort was finally captured in 1698, but not before Chhatrapati Rajaram escaped. It was later passed on to the Carnatic Nawabs who lost it to the French in 1750 before the British finally took control in 1761 despite losing it to Hyder Ali for a brief period. Raja Desinghu ruled Chenji and he was one of the famous kings to be known when it came to Chenji. He also worshipped Singavaram Sri Ranganatha Temple located in between Chenji and Melmalayanur. The temple is full of rock sculptures. The Bijapur Nawabs who held the fort from about 1660-77 AD called it Badshabad, while the Marathas who succeeded them called it Chandry or Chindy. The Mughals, on their capture of the fort in 1698 A.D. named it Nasrat Gaddah in honour of Nawab Zulfiquar Khan Nasrat Jang, the commander-in-chief of the besieging army. Later, the English and the French called it Gingee or Jinji. The early Madras records of the English give the spelling Chingee or Chengey. The chief source for the first two hundred years of the history of the place is the "Complete History of the Carnatic Kings" among the Mackenzie manuscripts. One Narayan, who claimed to be a descendant of the Ananda Kon Clan of Gingee, compiled it, after a consultation with numerous authorities, both Hindu and Muhammadan. According to Narayan, Gingee became a fortified place only about 1200 AD. Ananda Kon of the shepherd community, accidentally found a treasure in one of the cavities of the Western hill while grazing his sheep. Making himself the head of a small band of warriors, he defeated the petty rulers of the neighbouring villages and built a small fortress on Kamalagiri, which he renamed Anandagiri after himself. The Kon dynasty ruled Gingee from 1190 to 1330 AD, and was succeeded by the chief of a neighbouring place called Kobilingan, who belonged to the kurumba caste and ascended the throne of Gingee. He was a feudatory of the powerful Cholas. This way Gingee came into the hands of various ruling dynasties of South India, starting from the Cholas.Senji fort was builted by the king of senji's ananda kone, the actual name of Gingee is 'Sengiri' meaning perhaps the "Red Hill" in Tamil that has got corrupted into Gingee. Some say that the name Sengiri originated from 'Sanjeevi' the hill mentioned in Ramayana from where Hanuman got the life saving herb, the Sanjeevini Booti for Lakshmana when he was lying unconscious during the war between Rama and Ravana. The Sanjeevi herb is the panacea of Indian mythology. It has been explained as the combination of two roots, Sam (pleasure) and Ji (life). The name has also been traced to Singavaram the neighbouring Vaishnavite shrine, whose lord is considered the guardian deity of the place. The local tradition has another explanation to offer. The legend runs that seven virgin sisters once lived here and one of them was known as Senjiamman. Their modesty was threatened with the possibility of violation of their chastity. Even though a valiant man named Thadikara Virappan rescued them from danger, they could not survive the insult and so committed suicide. Their spirits are even now believed to be haunting the place and considered the genii loci. Each of the sisters has got her own little shrine still existing and attracts votaries from the neighbourhood. It is very probable that Senjiamman who is worshipped on top of one of the hills gave her name to the particular hill and this afterwards came to be the common designation of the whole circle of hills and villages below. Another of the sisters, Kamalakanniamman, has a shrine dedicated to her at the base of Rajgiri, which, on certain days in the year attracts a great number of worshippers. This hill was originally known after the goddess as Kamalagiri. Gingee also had an earlier name known as Krishnapura. This name was possibly given to it by its first ruling dynasty that were of shepherd class and whose tutelary deity was Lord Krishna. However, it is possible that it might have received the name from its powerful ruler, Krishnappa Nayak.

ginjee 9th AD / photography © abulkalamazad /pigment prints 

ginjee 9th AD / photography © abulkalamazad /pigment prints 

ginjee 9th AD / photography © abulkalamazad /pigment prints

''southern salt '' © Abul Kalam Azad / pigment prints 2012

Southern salt

Salt has long held an important place in religion and culture 

In Africa, salt was used as currency south of the Sahara, and slabs of rock salt were used as coins in Abyssinia 

In one of the hadiths recorded in Sunan Ibn Majah, the Islamic Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said that: "Salt is the master of your food. God sent down four blessings from the sky – fire, water, iron and salt"

The Book of Job contains the first mention of salt as a condiment. "Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?" (Job 6:6)

In the Hebrew Bible, there are thirty-five verses which mention salt

in india  Salt Satyagraha, began with the Dandi March on 12 March 1930, and was an important part of the Indian independence movement. It was a direct action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly in colonial India, and triggered the widerCivil Disobedience Movement. This was the most significant organised challenge to British authority since the Non-cooperation movement of 1920–22, and directly followed the Purna Swaraj declaration of independence by the Indian National Congress on 26 January 1930. Mahatma Gandhi led the Dandi march from his base, Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad, to the sea coast near the village of Dandi. As he continued on this 24-day, 240-mile (390 km) march to produce salt without paying the tax, growing numbers of Indians joined him along the way. When Gandhi broke the salt laws at 6:30 am on 5 April 1930, it sparked large scale acts of civil disobedience against the British Raj salt laws by millions of Indians. The campaign had a significant effect on changing world and British attitude towards Indian independence and caused large numbers of Indians to join the fight for the first time.

''southern salt '' © Abul Kalam Azad / pigment prints 2012

''southern salt '' © Abul Kalam Azad / pigment prints 2012

''southern salt '' © Abul Kalam Azad / pigment prints 2012

london night 2001 © Abul Kalam Azad / 50''x 50'' pigment prints 

london night &

thiru~nAvukkarasar



O Siva! You neither eat nor sleep. 
You know the Vedas without learning them.
When Ravana attempted to lift the Kailasa mountain without regard, You gently placed your toe and crushed him. You were pleased to hear Ravana play melodious music and praise you. You entered my heart a long time ago. You are the support/refuge for the entire world. O Lord of Kailasa mountain! I praise you again and again. 

-thiru~nAvukkarasar

''political portait''

photography  ©  abul kalam azad / 60''x 60'' pigment prints 2010

 

അരാഷ്ട്രീയ ബുദ്ധിജീവി / apolitical intellectuals

ഒരീസം ഇവ്‌ടത്തെ

ശവി ബുജ്യോളെ നാട്ടാര് വാള്‍പോസ്റ്റാക്കും മുടിയാന്‍ കാലത്ത് എവട്യാര്‍ന്നീ എരപ്പാള്യോള്‌ന്ന് ചോയ്ക്കും അവറ്റേരെ പത്രാസിന്റ്യാ മന്ദലമയക്കത്തിന്റ്യാ കാര്യം ചോയ്ക്കില്യ പൊങ്ങാണ്ട് കൊണ്ട്‌ടക്കണ ശ്യൂന്യത്യാ, ജ്യോര്‍ജ്ജുട്ട്യാ ഒറ്റെണ്ണം സാരാക്കില്യ പൂരത്തിന്റെ ചരിത്രാ, ഭൂമിശാസ്ത്രാ, പെരന്നാള്‍‌ക്ക് വാലായ്മ നോക്കീതാ, ഒരു രോമോം ചോയ്ക്കാന്‍ നിക്കില്യ എമണ്ടന്‍ നോണൊണ്ട് ഇവറ്റോളിണ്ടാക്കണ ന്യായീകരണോം കേക്കാന്‍ നിക്കില്യ ആ ദൂസം അങ്ങാടിക്കാര് കേറി നെരങ്ങും പഠിപ്പും പത്രാസുമില്യാത്തോര് ഇവറ്റോള്‍‌ക്കായിറ്റ് മുണ്ട് മുറുക്കി പണീട്‌ത്ത സാധാരണക്കാര് എന്നട്ടൊരു ചോദ്യണ്ട് ; ഇമ്മളൊക്കെ കെടന്ന് ചക്രശ്വാസം വലിക്ക്‌ണ നേര്‌ത്ത് ഏത് കോണത്തീ പോയീ കെടക്കാര്‍ന്നൂറാ കന്നാല്യോളേന്ന് കൊരലു വറ്റി, നാക്കെറ്ങ്ങി മിണ്ടാട്ടം മുട്ടിപൂവും ഒക്കേത്തിനും.

Disenting  Lingam  /  photography  ©  abul kalam azad / 60''x 60'' pigment prints 2010

Discending  '' Linga ''


The lingam  linga, ling, ,liṅgaṃ, meaning "mark", "sign", "inference" or is a representation of the pre-Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples. In traditional Indian society, the linga is rather seen as a symbol of the energy and potentiality of the God.

The popular belief is that the Lingam represents the phallus or the virile organ, the emblem of the generative power or principle in nature. This is not only a serious mistake, but also a grave blunder. In the post-Vedic period, the Linga became symbolical of the generative power of the Lord Siva. Linga is the differentiating mark. It is certainly not the sex-mark. The lingam is often represented alongside the yoni, a symbol of the goddess or of Shakti, female creative energy. The union of lingam and yoni represents the "indivisible two-in-oneness of male and female, the passive space and active time from which all life originates".
The lingam and the yoni have been interpreted as the male and female sexual organs since the end of the 19th century by some western scholars, while to practising Hindus they stand for the inseparability of the male and female principles and the totality of creation.