Thoughts on the Origin of Transgenderism in Thirumanthiram

Abstract

We are referring to transgender people born as a man and living as a woman (pedi), transsexuals born as a woman and living as a man (peden), and transsexuals (pedu, Ali) in one word. In the second Tantra of Thirumanthiram, three hymns, 471, 472, and 476, have recorded transsexuals as Ali. These songs contain the news about the birth of Thirunar. It says that this body has been created by the Supreme Being in the form of light to have the characteristics of a mother and father of life, and if the sperm that appears in the male during sexual intercourse is more, the child born will be male (male), and if a woman's heart rate is high, the child born will be a girl. If this sukhilam and suronitham both appear equally mixed, then the person born will be born transgender. And it also says that if both the male and female have equal left and right breaths during sexual intercourse, the child will be born transgender. In devotional literature, the rhetoric of Ali is used next to men and women in places where God is worshipped. However, only in the 1872 song of Thirumanthiram, the word "Pedu" is used while worshipping the Lord. This article examines the stories about the birth of transgender people as told by the Thirumanthiram along with the basic descriptions of transgender people.