Originally posted by: Viswasruti
Iravan, the son of Arjun and Uloopi, the Naga prince fought for Pandavas along with his Naga warriors, he dies in the Kurukshetra war. In South Indian folklore, he agrees to be sacrificed for Pandava's victory in the Kurukshetra war. He is also the deity worshipped by transgender or eunuchs.
On the eight day of the war, Iravan finds Shakuni Mama killing Pandava soldiers by shooting arrows on their back.
For this trickery, the entire legion that Shakuni commanded was killed by Iravan and Naga warriors.
Duryodhana who witnessed the destruction of a large part of his army ordered Alambusa, a demon with magical power, to kill Iravan. Alambusa flies through the air and chops off the head of an unsuspecting Iravan who was engaged in combat with Shakuni. He was killed through trickery.
Alambusa was later killed by Ghatotkacha, son of Bhima.
The other story which you mentioned is the story in Tamil Nadu is entirely different!! Iravan agrees to do self-sacrifice before Goddess Kali for the victory of the Pandavas at the time of Mahabharath war. His only wish was to get married before the sacrifice!! But no woman was ready to get married for a day.
Sri Krishna then takes the form of Mohini and marries Iravan. This single-day marriage is celebrated during the Koovagam Transgender Festival at Koovagam village in Tamil Nadu. iravan is here known as Koothandavara. Regarding that Koovagam ,--- the first 16 days, there is a lot of dancing on melodious songs. Shemales Plays dance, with the voices of the bells on the four sides, the voices of the spirited people are echoing. The surroundings encompass the fragrance of Kapoor and jasmine flowers.
On the 17th day, there is a special puja by the priest, and the coconut is offered to the gods. After that, Mangalasutra is worn in the neck of the kinnars by the priest of the temple in front of the Iravan deity. Which is called a plate. Then, in the Iravan temple,they will marry a statue of Iravan. On the last day, the statue of Iravan is rotated in the Koogam village and then it is broken. After that, the bride, breaks her mangal sutra and also removes all the makeup done on the face. And wear white clothes and beat chest loudly and cry very much, seeing it will be very painfulπ²ππ‘ After that, the Iravan festival ends. And the program of going to their house starts by promising to meet again on the first full moon of next year. A ritual that carries many emotions in the cursed lives of the Kinnaras .ππ
Thank you Didi for giving a vivid presentation of the festival. It must be so painful to watch on the last day. Strange rituals but then you can't inject much theory into someone's beliefs.
I prefer to believe in the first story and the first hand experience of Vedvyas himself. Why on earth would Arjun refuse to recognize his own son and why would Krishna let a mighty warrior die when he knew very well that victory of dharma is bound to happen.