Bahuchara Mata

Bahuchara Mata is a goddess of north Gujarat whose principal temple stands at Becharaji in Mehsana district, in the Chunval region. She is depicted riding a rooster, and she holds a distinctive double position in western Indian religion: a fertility goddess to whom couples pray for children, and the principal patron deity of the hijra community, for whom her shrine is among the most important pilgrimage centres in India.

The tradition

The best-known origin legend makes her a Charan woman travelling with her sisters when their party was set upon by a marauder named Bapiya. Rather than submit, she wounded her own body, an act of self-sacrifice characteristic of Charan tradition, and cursed her assailant with impotence, relenting only on the condition that he worship her dressed as a woman. Local tradition traces to this episode the goddess's special bond with those who live outside conventional categories of gender.

Worship

Members of the hijra community regard Bahuchara Mata as their protectress and hold her worship central to their religious life; many make the pilgrimage to Becharaji, and initiation within the community is traditionally undertaken in her name. Alongside this, the temple draws a broad stream of Gujarati householder devotion: parents bring children for first head-shaving rites, and the goddess is petitioned for offspring and for healing. The rooster remains her emblem, carried on the temple's flags and offerings.