India's Kumbh Mela festival features 1st ever transgender congregation

Millions of people come and go each day during the Kumbh Mela, a Hindu festival held four times over the course of every 12 years, rotating among four sites wherepilgrims come to wash away their sins in the waters ofsacred rivers.

This year's mela, or fair, which began in January, is being held at Prayagraj, at theconfluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the Saraswati rivers.

For the first time in itshistory, the festival has cleared the way for a transgender group of sadhus(saints) to participate. The camp of the newly formed KinnarAkhadadraws thousands of visitors, many hoping for a glimpse of and maybe blessings fromits leader, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi(above, below), a former reality TV star and classical dancer.

"I was fighting for dignity. I was fighting for my entire community to be considered as human beings. Isn't it?" says Tripathi. "This was my dream and this has come so true."

Manisha Jogi,below right, is a transwomanfrom the eastern state of Orissa. "The message which goes out is that before [people] were not respecting us ... teasing and abusing us. But now, as we join the Kinnar Akhada, people are respecting us and giving the respect equal to a mother,"she says.

Hindu mythology and scripture is full of references totransgenderpeople. Some Hindu gods and goddesses are also believed to betransgender.At theKumbhMelafestival, the community believes it is reclaiming the lost place in Hinduism for India's "third gender," known ashijras, who wereworshipped asdemi-godsfor thousands of years before they were ostracized under Britain's rule.

The 2011 census (India'smost recent) was the first to count transgender people, finding a total of487,803. Advocates estimate the number to be much higher, especially since the count took place before the2014 landmark ruling from India's Supreme Court recognizingtransgender as a third genderand granting trans people constitutional protections.

Pavrita, below, saysthe camp is a milestone in the fight for her transgender rights. "I know the condition of transgenders across the country. But somewhere down the line I feel the LGBT community can breathe easy now. Otherwise, we would be constantly worrying about how to live and what people think about us. Even our parents are accepting and are sorry for treating us badly."

TheKumbh Melais expected to attract more than 100 million pilgrims by the time it's over. While the transgender community has made a splash at this festival, the wider question remainswhether India at large will fully recognize their social identity.The Kumbh Mela endsMarch 4.

Story and photos: MuraliKrishnanfor CBC News