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[[image:Sri Aravan.jpg|100px|Depiction of Aravan, worshiped at Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore]]
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'''[[Iravan]]''' (''Aravan'') is a minor character from the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] [[Hindu epic|epic]] of [[Mahabharata]]. The son of [[Pandava]] prince [[Arjuna]] (one of the main heroes of the Mahabharata) and the [[Nāga|Naga]] princess [[Ulupi]], Iravan is the central god of the cult of Kuttantavar and plays a major role in the cult of [[Draupadi]]. Both these cults are of [[South India]]n origin, from a region of the country where he is worshipped as a [[Village deities of Tamil Nadu|village deity]]. The Mahabharata portrays Iravan as dying a heroic death in the 18-day [[Kurukshetra War]], the epic's main subject. However, the South Indian cults have a supplementary tradition of honouring Iravan's self-sacrifice to the goddess [[Kali]] to ensure her favour and the victory of the Pandavas in the war. The South Indian cult focus on three boons granted to Iravan by the god [[Krishna]] in honour of this self-sacrifice. Iravan is also a patron god of well-known Indian [[transgender]] communities called ''[[Hijra (South Asia)|Ali]]''. In [[Koovagam]], [[Tamil Nadu]], an 18-day festival holds a ceremonial marriage of Iravan to ''Ali''s and male villagers and followed then by their "widowhood" after ritual re-enactment of Iravan's sacrifice. Iravan is also known in Indonesia. Independent [[Java]]nese traditions present a dramatic marriage of Irawan to Titisari, daughter of Krishna, and a death resulting from a case of mistaken identity. ('''[[Iravan|more...]]''')

Portal:India/Selected article/94 - Revision history

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