Jogappa
Devotees of the goddess Yellamma in south India, assigned male and living in feminine dress: a role you're dedicated into, not a label.
- One of twenty-two Cultural identities
- No settled flag
- 4 min read
A word that belongs to a people. This identity is held within a specific culture. The page is here to understand it, not to adopt it.
A shorter entry: the essentials, written to the same standard. The fuller guides are on the main identities.
What it is
Jogappa is not a word for a feeling. It's a role inside the worship of the goddess Yellamma, also called Renuka, in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring regions. Jogappas were assigned male, live in feminine dress, and are described as spiritually wedded to the goddess. The work is hers: singing her legend to the chowdki and shruthi, dancing and singing at weddings and birth ceremonies, seeking alms in her name.
It belongs to those communities. You don't become jogappa by recognising yourself in a description; you become one through dedication to the goddess, which is a ritual and a life, not a self-identification. You'll also see jogati, jogathi and jogta; jogathi is the name the best-known member of the tradition, Manjamma Jogathi, carries. If you have no connection to this tradition, the description may fit you exactly and the word is still not yours.
What it is not: it isn't a regional word for hijra. Jogappas perform similar work to hijras and are often listed alongside them, and some move in both worlds. But the deity is different, the lineage is different, and there's no guru-and-house system of the same kind. And the written record in English is thin: a few sentences in Wikipedia's hijra and Renuka articles, and a page for Manjamma Jogathi, awarded the Padma Shri for the Jogathi folk dance. Most of the tradition lives in the villages and the songs, not in English.
Pronouns
Jogappas and jogatis generally live and are addressed in feminine terms; Kannada and Marathi carry gender in the verb, and the feminine is the usual form. In English, 'she' is how the tradition's own public figures are written about. Some describe themselves as neither man nor woman; some as women; some simply as the goddess's. Use what the person in front of you uses.
Does this sound like you?
Not sure where you fit?
Twenty questions, about four minutes, nothing leaves your phone. It suggests. You decide.
Nearby identities
The distinction is the useful part.
The wider South Asian community with gurus, houses and reet. Jogappas do comparable work and get listed beside hijras, but the deity is Yellamma rather than Bahuchara Mata, the lineage is separate, and there's no house system of the same kind. Cousins, not the same thing.
Compare Jogappa and Hijra →Tamil Nadu's own tradition and word, tied to different festivals and a different history. Not a translation of jogappa and not interchangeable with it.
Compare Jogappa and Thirunangai →The older Tamil term, tied to the god Aravan and the Koovagam festival. A different deity, a different region, a different lineage.
Compare Jogappa and Aravani →It might not be you if…
- You're not from these communities. The description may fit you closely: feminine, devoted, neither one thing nor the other. The word is still not yours; work out what the feeling is and find the word that is.
- You want a label for a private identity. This is a public role with a goddess, a dedication, a repertoire and an economy attached.
- You're South Asian and feminine and living an ordinary life with a job and no dedication. That's a trans woman's life, or something else you'll name yourself. Jogappa without Yellamma is just a word.
- You're here for a costume, a character or a novel. Read Manjamma Jogathi's story. Take the reading. Leave the label.
Questions people ask
Are jogappas the same as hijras?
No, though they're often listed together. Both do comparable ritual work, singing and dancing at births and weddings, and both are assigned male and live in feminine dress. But jogappas are dedicated to Yellamma specifically, and the guru-and-house structure that defines hijra life isn't the shape of the jogappa tradition. Some people move between the two worlds. The words aren't interchangeable.
How does someone become a jogappa?
Through dedication to the goddess, which is a ritual, and not something you can do to yourself over the internet. The published accounts describe being given to Yellamma; Manjamma Jogathi's page says she was married to the deity by ritual and not allowed to return home. How and why a dedication happens varies, and the sources in English are thin. This page doesn't pretend to know more than that.
Can I identify as jogappa if I'm not from Karnataka or Maharashtra?
No. It isn't a personal label with criteria you can meet. It's entry into a religious tradition, granted by the tradition itself, in a particular part of India. If what caught you was the feminine devotion, or being neither man nor woman, those feelings have words that are yours to use. Start there instead.
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