People of the transgender community in West Bengal’s Kolkata celebrate Durga Puja with a Durga Pandal based on the theme of ‘Ardhanareshwara’.

A non-profit organisation, Gokhale Road Bandhan, organised the pandal.

Transgender activist Ranjita Sinha said that earlier, everyone celebrated Durga Puja, while transgender community was not allowed to, due to the social stigma.

“We have been celebrating Ardhanarishwara for the last eight years. We began this practice as some people did not consider transgender persons as people. Our community had to face the stigmas. When everyone enjoyed the Puja, we used to cry as we could not step out of our homes. There are transgender men and transgender women among us, and the Ardhanarishwara shows that all are equal. We also distributed rations, and the

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