In a landmark judgement last year, the Supreme Court recognised the transgender community as the third gender. Now, members of the transgender community are finally getting religious acceptance too.
The country's first transgender akhada came up during Dussehra in Ujjain. Six peethadeeswars and two mahants were selected from different parts of the country. All of them are respected religious scholars from the transgender community.
The six peethadeeswars are from Haridwar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Bihar, Chhatisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
There are traditionally 13 akhadas in the ashram of spiritual guru Rishi Ajay Das in Ujjain. It is a matter of pride for transgenders that the 14th akhada has been set up for them.
This akhada came up after three years of tireless efforts with the help of Rishi Ajay Das and India's top transgender rights official, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi.
When the Simhastha Kumbh Mela takes place in Ujjain in 2016, it will be a historic moment for the transgender community. They will be able to take a holy dip on the auspicious occasion for the first ever time.
Santoshi Kinnar, one of the akhada's peethadeeswars, said that transgenders had been denied their religious rights until now but this akhada will help them to be accepted within the Hindu fold.
