On India’s rainbow trail | Queer-focused walks are finding an audience in the country

A few years ago, Nitika Arora, a storyteller and queer ally, hosted a baithak (gathering) in Delhi’s Mehrauli Archaeological Park to discuss LGBTQIA+ history in India. Midway through the event, she was taken aback when a woman in her 50s said, “Every time I look at queer people, I feel repulsed.” The strong emotion, however, also made the woman cognisant that she must face her prejudices.

“I don’t know much about queer folks, and the few things I do know are mainstream stereotypes,” the Delhi resident explained. “I want to go beyond that and understand them.”Since then, Arora says she has felt a deep sense of purpose to help fight such stereotypes.

Today, she leads a number of queer-focused walks and baithaks via Darwesh Heritage Walks, which she co-founded in 2013. She leans into history, literature, and art to bring the community’s layered past to the fore, through how they intertwine with the many monuments that pepper the cityscape. The Delhi resident may not have come back for another gathering, but Arora is hopeful that she has been able to help other visitors.

Nitika Arora | Photo Credit: Special arrangement A layered historyPre-colonial India was not strait-laced. The country has a complex, compelling narrative spanning centuries of gender fluidity and queer expression — from third gender representation in the Vedas and Puranas and same-sex desire in the Kama Sutra, to mythological references such as Shikhandi in the Mahabharata (born as a woman but assumed a male identity).During the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal periods, there are recorded acceptances of queer communities.

For example, in the Ain-i-Akbari (a document detailing the administration under Emperor Akbar), “there are paintings of the Mughal court in session, with the khwajasaras [transgender and intersex individuals] on the side”, says Arora. There was even a subgenre of Urdu poetry, known as Rekhti, with references to homoerotic desires of women. “It [queer relationships] wasn’t frowned upon largely till the British came in,” she adds.

“There is always a case for sharing the histories of marginalised and oppressed communities. From that lens, such walks become an occasion to sensitise, share information, and bring back forgotten consciously ignored bits of history. But walks that only cater to a queer audience can also become a form of othering.

Unless the purpose itself is to meet other queer folk, the time has come to question why ordinary heritage walks don’t speak about queer historical topics. Walks have an opportunity to normalise it — that queer folk have always been amongst us in India. When we have such neutral conversations, then we can become a more inclusive society.”

Deepthi SasidharanFounder-director, Eka Archiving Services Deepthi Sasidharan | Photo Credit: Special arrangement Delhi’s fluidityThe national capital has plenty of examples of monuments with a queer past. The 16th-century Jamali Kamali mosque and tomb in Mehrauli is one of the best known. It is here that Arora usually begins her walk.

Jamali was a revered Sufi saint and poet, while Kamali’s true identity — a disciple, a brother, or a male lover — remains a historical mystery. Oral traditions claim they were in love, and were buried alongside each other. The site has since been embraced by the LGBTQIA+ community as a symbol of queer love and proof of historical representation.

Jamali Kamali mosque in Mehrauli Archaeological Park | Photo Credit: Getty Images Among the other monuments included in the walk are the Hijron ka Khanqah, a spiritual retreat for the hijra community, and Bagh-e-Nazir, a walled garden built in the 18th century by Roz Afsun Nazir, a powerful khwajasara. “I never knew about Hijron ka Khanqah. The walk showed me that even today such hidden places hold so much value,” shares Meenakshi Gandotra, a Delhi-based gender equity and social inclusion practitioner.

“So many things are forgotten or neglected, and sometimes just taking a walk reveals these stories. I now see Mehrauli as a place of queer history and Sufism rather than just a market.”Stories from AhmedabadAcross India, there are plenty of examples of sites and monuments with queer history.

Think Madhya Pradesh’s Khajuraho and Odisha’s Konark with their depictions of queer love. In Karnataka, the Virupaksha Shiva Temple in Hampi features carvings of same-sex and bisexual couples on its walls. “These belong to a spiritual practice that asked visitors to leave their erotic desires behind before entering, but they are also evidence of alternative sexual practices in medieval India,” says Siddarth Shanthala Ganesh, a Bengaluru-based archivist and curator.

Another example is Madurai’s Meenakshi Amman Temple with its gender-fluid deities. Worshippers in Khajuraho | Photo Credit: Getty Images Now, people are making an effort to showcase these stories. In 2022, tour guide Muhammad Ali Turner from Gujarat started his heritage walks under the Gandhinagar Queer Pride Foundation (GQPF) banner.

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