“Shikhandi and other tales they don’t tell you” by Devdutt Pattanaik
The author not only narrates the legends but offers his extensive commentary to place the stories in proper context.
Makara, 11 Century, Bihar, India Museum Kolkata, Ground floor.
Photo Credit : Sneham Lakshman
On the walls and gateways of Pagodas of Eastern India such as Puri (Juggernaut Pagoda) and Konarak (Black Pagoda), I have found a variety of images: gods, goddesses, demons, nymphs, sages, warriors, lovers, priests, monsters, dragons, plants and animals. Amongst these, one invariably finds erotic images, including LGBT, those that modern law deems unnatural and society considers obscene.
LGBT themes in Hindu Mythology is also depicted in the vahana (vehicle) of the Ganga — the goddess of river Ganges.
Makara is a sea-creature in Hindu mythology. It is generally depicted as half terrestrial animal in the frontal part, in animal forms of an elephant, crocodile, stag, or deer, and in the hind part as an aquatic animal, in the form of a fish or seal tail. Sometimes, even a peacock tail is depicted.
“Shikhandi and other tales they don’t tell you” is a compilation of traditional Hindu stories with a common thread: sexual transformation and gender metamorphosis.
What is Shikhandi? A man with a woman’s heart? A woman with a man’s body? A Hijra?
To understand Shikhandi, we need to know about Amba. To know about Amba we need understand Bhisma and then their relationship.
In the Mahabharata, Drupada raises his daughter Shikhandini as a man and even gets ‘him’ a wife. When the wife discovers the truth on the wedding night, hell breaks loose; her father threatens to destroy Drupada’s kingdom. The timely intervention of Yaksha saves the day: he lets Shikhandini use his manhood for a night and perform his manly duties.
Shikhandi’s arrival in Mahabharata marks the turning point of the war.
Mohini Temple, #Bhubaneswar, #India
Photo Credit : http://ignca.nic.in
Perhaps the most popular story revolving around gender metamorphoses are those related to Mohini, the female incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
In addition to the thought-provoking story of Shikhandi and others, you’ll also find: an examination of the universality of queer narratives with examples, comparison of the Hindu paradigm to the biblical paradigm; a look at how Hindu society and Hindu scripture responds to queer sexuality, a discussion of the Hijras (popularly believed to be the third gender in India) and lots more.
With the telling of each of these tales, you will also learn how they relate to the context of dominant Hindu attitudes toward sex, gender, pleasure, fertility et all.
Queer tales though subversive from one point of view, are conformist from another becoz they endorse traditional gender roles and sexual symbolism.
Hindu lore also drives home the point that social law changes with time to meet the demands of a particular age. The Kali Yuga marks the final phase in the cosmic lifespan, the era before the flood of doom. Hindu scriptures state that in this age all forms of sexual irregularities will occur.
Communication of Gender surely isn’t black and white. Hindu ideas in divine androgyny offer a basis for greater acceptance of gender diversity of future.
This book has inspired me to do research on the places, myths and people mentioned in the stories.
Devdutt portrays a case of very real characters, some of whom weren’t my favourite until I read this book.
Devdutt is a communicator of ideas. His beautiful illustrations convey the point beautifully, the way my science teacher used to draw diagrams on the black board to to make it simpler for me.
We, at Little Steps Pre-school, Bhubaneswar, India (http://littlestepsindia.org/home.html), have conceptualized a A-Z maze book for tiny tots with stories of Hindu Mythology for which we would love to have illustrations like the ones in this book. We hope someday we can get mentored by the likes of Devdutt to integrate Hindu Mythology in our nipuna curriculum for pre-elementary start-ups.
Hindu mythology has many examples of deities changing gender and manifesting a different gender at different times beautifully explained in this book.
You can grab a copy at flipkart link http://www.flipkart.com/author/devdutt-pattanaik or at amazon http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_il_ti_stripbooks?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ADevdutt+Pattanaik&sort=relevancerank&ie=UTF8&qid=1380765130&lo=stripbooks to know more.
The author not only narrates the legends but offers his extensive commentary to place the stories in proper context.
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I am reachable at devasissarangi@gmail.com; https://twitter.com/devasissarangi
