Ashapura Mata

Ashapura Mata, whose name is understood as the fulfiller of hopes, is the presiding goddess of Kutch and one of the great kuladevis, hereditary clan goddesses, of western India. Her principal temple stands at Mata no Madh in western Kutch, and she is the tutelary deity of the Jadeja Rajputs, the dynasty that ruled Kutch until the mid-twentieth century, as well as of numerous trading, pastoral and artisan communities across Gujarat and among Gujaratis overseas.

The tradition

Goddesses bearing the name Ashapura are worshipped in Rajasthan as well as Gujarat, and she is honoured as clan deity by branches of the Chauhan Rajputs, whose older shrines lie in the Marwar country. In Kutch her cult is bound to the fortunes of the land itself: local tradition credits her with protecting the region and its rulers, and her sanction was sought in the affairs of the former state.

Worship

The temple at Mata no Madh is the focus of a notable walking pilgrimage: during the autumn Navratri, devotees travel on foot across Kutch, often over several days, to reach the shrine. Families for whom she is kuladevi bring newborn children and newly married couples for her blessing, maintaining a bond between household and goddess that passes down the generations.