人與神的角色轉換 印度跨性別女神的節日
DEVANAMPATTINAM, India — The transformation of transgender women into goddesses for an annual Hindu festival takes place in an atmosphere of reverent, somber concentration. Laugh lines vanish, replaced by an impassive mask. Skin becomes stone.
印度德發南巴蒂南——在這個印度教的年度節日中，從跨性別女性向女神的轉變，是在虔誠而凝重的氣氛中進行的。笑容消失了，代之以無表情的面具。皮膚變成了石頭。
As they prepared to perform in the Mayana Kollai festival in a fishing village in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, some of the dancers slipped into trances so deep it appeared they might have fainted. The photographs, taken over the past three years, are by Candace Feit.
在印度南部泰米爾納德邦的一個小漁村，人們在準備“盜墓節”(Mayana Kollai)的表演，一些舞者進入重度的出神狀態，以至於看上去像是暈厥了。這些照片是由坎德絲·費特(Candace Feit)在過去三年裏拍攝的。
Indians who decide to live as kothis — also known as hijras, kinnars or aravani, depending on the region — are born male and typically have male lovers.
蔻蒂(kothi)在某些地區又稱海吉拉(hijra)、金納(kinnar)或阿拉瓦尼(aravani)，選擇以這種方式生活的印度人的出生性別爲男性，通常有男性情侶。
Unlike transgender people in the West, they leave a conservative mainstream culture for an equally conservative subculture. Some live in communes with a strict network of rules under the authority of leaders they refer to as “mothers” and “grandmothers.”
和西方的跨性別人士不同的是，她們脫離了保守的主流文化，加入了一種同樣保守的亞文化。其中一些生活在有森嚴戒律的公社裏，她們的領袖被稱爲“母親”或“祖母”。
Others live with their parents or head heterosexual families. Many reveal their identities as teenagers and are met with years of taunts, beatings and forced sex.
還有一些跟父母住，或成爲異性戀家庭的家長。有許多人在少年時期就表露了身份，並因此遭受多年的奚落、毆打和受迫性交。
But during the festival, which takes place in either February or March each year, these troubles are impossibly distant. Any trace of human expression is lifted, and the kothis begin to resemble the deities they worship. The ordinary is tethered to the divine. — ELLEN BARRY
但是，在每年2月或3月舉行的節日期間，這些困擾會顯得無比遙遠。一切人類的表情都被消除，蔻蒂人開始變成她們膜拜的神靈的模樣。凡人與神建立了連線。——ELLEN BARRY
The kothi performers were solemn as the festival approached. They had agreed not to drink alcohol or have sex for the duration of the 10-day festival. Men are not allowed in the dressing room for the preparations, which take place in hushed silence.
隨着節日的臨近，蔻蒂表演者的表情肅穆起來。在爲期十天的節日中，她們承諾不飲酒，免房事。男人不可進入爲表演做準備的更衣室，準備工作在一片肅靜中進行。
The performers crowd into a small room near the temple to apply makeup, a process that can take as long as two hours. By the time they finish, their faces have disappeared beneath a shell of color — half-person, half-goddess.
表演者擠在寺廟附近的一個小房間裏化妝，全過程耗時可達兩個小時。完成後，她們的臉會被遮蓋在一層色彩之下——成爲半人半神。
For those 10 days, the kothis are treated with reverence by the villagers, who flock to see them dance without any mention of their gender identity. Walking the town’s streets, the kothis are invited into house after house to give blessings.
十天裏，村民會對蔻蒂人畢恭畢敬，他們蜂擁前來觀看她們的舞蹈，絕口不提她們的性別身份。蔻蒂人行走在小鎮街道上，家家戶戶都會來請她們進門，求得她們的祝福。
Kavia Varshini, a traditional Indian dancer, is a celebrity in this part of Tamil Nadu. When she walks through crowds after a performance, people rush to her side to have their picture taken. She is one of the lucky ones: There is no family expectation that she will marry.
傳統印度舞者卡薇亞·瓦什尼(Kavia Varshini)是泰米爾納德邦這一帶的名人。每次表演後穿過人羣離開時，人們會涌上來拍照。她相對幸運：家人並不指望她結婚。
Mogana, left, helps Navali put on her bra, as the two prepare to perform.
莫佳娜（左）幫助那瓦莉穿上胸罩，兩人正在準備表演。
As kothis converge on the village, rivalries can flare. Many gave the cold shoulder to a kothi one year because her name was the only one mentioned in the event’s printed program, which was seen as self-aggrandizing.
隨着蔻蒂人在村裏聚集，競爭也會激烈起來。有一年，一個蔻蒂人遭到了其他人的冷落，因爲只有她一個人的名字出現在了那年印發的節目單上，而這被認爲是一種自我炒作。
Mogana, shown helping another kothi prepare, is under intense pressure from her family to marry soon. Along with her partner, she is trying to figure out what to do. While the idea of marrying or having sex with a woman is alien to her, marriage would offer the comfort of family acceptance.
正在幫助另一位蔻蒂人的莫佳娜面臨家人的巨大壓力，要她儘快結婚。她正和自己的伴侶一起想辦法。她沒法想象自己和一個女人結婚或發生性關係，但通過婚姻獲得家人的認可，可以給她一片清淨。
At the end of the festival, their moment over, the kothis return to ordinary life. Jehada Guru, shown here as the goddess Amman, is one of the poorest people in his village: a day laborer and father of two, married to a woman who works in a bakery.
節日之後，她們的風光也告一段落，蔻蒂人將回歸平凡的生活。扮成女神安曼(Amman)的耶哈達·古魯(Jehada Guru)屬於村裏最窮的人之一：他在打散工，是兩個孩子的父親，跟一個在烘焙店打工的女人結了婚。
