Overview
What aravani means.
Aravani is a Tamil word, and it belongs to Tamil Nadu. It names the transgender women and hijra-community people of that state, and it comes from Aravan, a figure in the Mahabharata. Wikipedia's page on hijras records that in South India hijras claim Aravan as their progenitor and call themselves aravanis.
The word is bound to a place and a day in the calendar. Every year at Koovagam, in Tamil Nadu, aravanis marry the god Aravan — Koothandavar — in a re-enactment of his one night of marriage, then mourn him as widows. Wikipedia's page on the festival describes the eighteen days, the beauty pageant and the discussions of transgender rights that now run alongside the ritual.
What it is not: a label to pick up because a description fits. It is not the Tamil translation of "transgender". And it is no longer the word most of the community reaches for. The same hijra page notes the older Tamil terms are often considered derogatory and have been supplanted by in-community words, above all thirunangai, "respected woman". If you are not from these communities, this word is not yours to adopt. If you are, you already know which one you use.
The older Tamil name for Tamil Nadu's transgender-women community, tied to the god Aravan; thirunangai is now the preferred word.
Aravani in one line
Origin
Where the word comes from
Aravani is rooted in the Mahabharata story of Aravan, son of Arjuna, who agreed to be sacrificed to the goddess Kali on condition he could marry first; the god Krishna took female form as Mohini to marry him for his last night. Tamil Nadu's hijra-community people trace their name and their annual Koovagam ritual, in which they marry and then mourn Aravan, to this myth, giving the term a religious and ritual origin that predates any modern coinage.
The word's more recent history is one of displacement rather than invention. Like hijra communities elsewhere in South Asia, Tamil Nadu's aravanis lived through British colonial policy that criminalised and surveilled gender-nonconforming and 'eunuch' communities, most notoriously under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, which listed hijra groups alongside other communities branded hereditarily criminal and subjected them to registration and policing. That colonial stigma outlasted the law itself, and is part of why 'aravani' and other older Tamil terms came to be viewed as pejorative, and why the community-led term thirunangai ('respected woman') was later adopted, including by the Tamil Nadu state government, as the preferred public name.
Signs people describe
Common experiences
None of these is a test. Most people recognise a few and shrug at the rest.
You have been to Koovagam, or you have the date for it, and the eighteen days are the fixed point your year turns around.
You have tied the thali as a bride of Aravan and broken your bangles the next day, and both felt real.
The word on your government paperwork and the word your community uses for you are not the same word.
An older sister in your house says aravani about herself without blinking; a younger one corrects it to thirunangai every time.
You speak Tamil at home and English on the forms, and "transgender" is a word you use for offices, not for friends.
Someone from outside India asked you for "the Tamil word for trans", and the honest answer took ten minutes.
Pronouns
Pronouns
Aravanis live in feminine forms. In English that is she/her; in Tamil the honorifics and verb endings carry it. If you are unsure, the person in front of you decides — and many will tell you they prefer thirunangai as the noun.
Consider another path
This might not be your word if…
- 1You are not Tamil and have no tie to these communities. The description may fit; the word is still not yours.
- 2You are Tamil and trans and want the respectful public word. That is thirunangai, and the community has said so.
- 3You want a general word for "transgender" in an Indian language. There is not one; each region has its own, and each carries its own weight.
Close by
Related identities
Thirunangai
The word most of the same community now prefers. Same people, same state; thirunangai says "respected woman" where aravani points at the god. If you are choosing between them for someone else, choose thirunangai.
ReadHijra
The wider South Asian community with houses, gurus and its own economy. Aravani is Tamil Nadu's own strand, with its own festival and its own history — not a translation of hijra.
ReadThird gender
A box on Indian government forms. It covers aravanis, thirunangais, hijras and others who share little beyond the paperwork.
ReadJogappa
Devotees of Yellamma in Karnataka and Maharashtra. Different deity, different lineage, different state.
Read
Transgender Female
The English umbrella. Many aravanis are trans women and use both words; the English one does not carry the festival, the houses or the history.
ReadQuestions people ask
Frequently asked questions
Is aravani offensive?+
It depends who says it and where. Inside the community it is still used, especially by older people, and the Koovagam festival keeps it alive. Wikipedia's hijra page records that the older Tamil terms are often considered derogatory and have been supplanted by thirunangai. From an outsider, use thirunangai unless the person tells you otherwise.
What is the difference between aravani and thirunangai?+
Same community, two words. Aravani is the older name, tied to Aravan and the festival. Thirunangai is the in-community coinage meaning "respected woman", later adopted by the Tamil Nadu government at the community's request. Neither is a synonym for the English "transgender".
What happens at Koovagam?+
An eighteen-day festival at the Koothandavar temple in Tamil Nadu. Aravanis marry the god in a re-enactment of the Mahabharata story, then mourn him as widows, in white, with their marriage ornaments removed. Wikipedia's page on the festival says tens of thousands attend, and that a pageant and discussions of transgender rights now sit alongside the ritual.
The flag
No flag — no page on lgbtqia.wiki, gender.fandom.com or nonbinary.wiki.
Sources
- Hijra (South Asia) — Wikipedia Fetched. Records the Tamil terms (ali, aravanni, aravani, aruvani), the Aravan origin claim, and that the older terms are often considered derogatory and supplanted by thirunangai. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aravani redirects here.
- Koovagam — Wikipedia Fetched. Describes the eighteen-day festival, the marriage to Koothandavar/Aravan, the widow ritual, the pageant and rights discussions; uses "Aravani" for the participants.
- திருநங்கை — Wiktionary Fetched. Records that thirunangai replaced aravani, which was considered derogatory, in Tamil Nadu government usage.
- Obscenity, Moral Contagion and Masculinity: Hijras in Public Space in Colonial North India — Asian Studies Review Fetched 2026-09-06. Scholarly source on colonial-era criminalisation and policing of hijra communities under British rule, background for the Criminal Tribes Act context noted in the origin section.
- Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 — Government of India (repealed acts) Fetched 2026-09-06. Primary text of the 1871 Act used by colonial authorities to register and criminalise hijra and other communities, cited for the colonial-stigma context in the origin section.
Still figuring things out?
Twenty questions, four minutes, and a few words worth trying on.