Transgenderism and the Cult of Yellamma: Heat, Sex, and Sickness in South Indian Ritual

Abstract

This account provides first-hand information on a variety of ritual officiants who are regarded as having been "caught" by the goddess Yellamma, a form of the Hindu goddess Renūka found in several pilgrimage centers in northern Karnātaka, South India, and in the village pantheons and household shrines of the people of the region. Among the human agents of Yellamma particular consideration is given to the "transgenderites"--female, erotic men (jōgappa), and male, ascetic women (jōgamma). It is suggested that, in this case at least, the conventional anthropological view that such transformation is a kind of institutionalized ambiguity impedes our understanding of the phenomenon. The nature and significance of ritual transgenderism is explored through a structural analysis of the system of thought and practice which defines the Yellamma cult.