Bahuchara

10 views

DEVI BAHUCHARA MATA OF GUJARAT

Shri Bahuchara Mata is one of the many folk goddesses of Gujarat, and is one of the many goddesses that is worshiped all over the world. She is the goddess of chastity and virility, and she is the folk goddess of the Hijra Community as well as of the LGBT Community on a wider note. She is considered as an incarnation of Devi Balambika (thus she is also known as Bala Bahuchara) and there are two stories of her origins, both of which are as follows.

Devi Bahuchara is believed to have been born in the Charan caste of people who are renowned for their honour and commitment to truth. Legend states that once when she was traveling in a caravan along with her sisters, a bandit named Bapiya attempted to molest her modesty. However, Bahuchara Devi did not succumb to his overtures and nor did she go to the extreme of killing herself. She however cut off her breast in an attempt to deter the bandit. She took this step to defend her honour and also cursed the bandit Bapiya with impotency and to become a eunuch. Such is the honour of the Charan caste, that she did not resort to violence to subdue the bandit, but instead asked him to atone for his sin by dressing as a woman and start behaving like one. She also cursed him because he had the ego that being a man, he could be aggressive to women and thus he became egotistical about his strength and masculinity, and in order to bring an end to this, she cursed the dacoit to become a eunuch. Bapiya later realized his mistake and as he lost his sexual inclination as a male, he used to dress like a women and worshiped Devi Bahuchara for seeking her forgiveness.

The other legend states that once a king worshiped The Devi for a son, and by her grace a son was born but he was not a normal male. Devi Bahuchara then incarnated as a young woman who married that prince from. However, after they were married, he never spent time with her at all. Instead he used to travel to the forest on his horse at night and return before the sun rose. So, one night, Devi Bahuchara decided to follow him, but she didn’t have a horse to carry her so she sat on the first animal that she saw and requested that the animal carries her to the forest, and thus the first animal she saw was a rooster and thus she was able to go into the forest. When she arrived, she could not believe what she said. Her husband was dressed up as a woman and behaving and acting like one. She quarrelled with him asking him why he married her if he wasn’t going to spend time with her, and to this he replied that he only did this to please his parents. And then she revealed her true form and thus took her four-armed form holding a book, sword an trishul with the other hand being in Abhaya Mudra and revealed herself as Bahuchara Mata. She blessed him and said that she would be the folk goddess to him and all people like him, as they would be special and dear to her, and after saying this she disappeared. Thus, she became the folk goddess of the Hijras and the LGBT Community. If you look at her photos, you would see a man riding a horse, that is her husband now returning from the forest after night. Her association with trans genders then grew in the following centuries, as she asked people to accept their sexual identities and must take up the spiritual path, and strive for liberation. She is seated on a rooster which is a symbol of innocence and virility, thus showing that she grants virility and removes impotency from her devotees who are born as infertile.

Her temple is situated in Mehsana district of Gujarat. As her spiritual and tantric identity, Devi Bahuchara is the state of kundalini in the lower chakras before her commencement to Sahasrara. The rooster in her spiritual identity is associated with a rising kundalini from the muladhara to Sahasrara. She brings balance in masculine and feminine energies of a being and thus considered helpful to people who suffer impotency. Bahuchara Devi is seated on the low end and the other end goes to Sahasrara, which means that Bahuchara Mata is the goddess starting the awakening of kundalini which eventually leads the liberation or moksha.

She is a form of the Devi that plays a very important role in today’s society as she is the patron goddess for a group of people that are frowned upon by many other religions, thus showing that Hinduism is open to each and every one no matter of anything. Devi Bahuchara is a goddess that can we worshipped by each and every one. She is easily pleased with anything red.

OM AIM HREEM KLEEM NAMO NAMAHA KUKKAD VAHINI NAMO NAMAHA
SUKHDAYINI NAMO NAMAHA SHRI BAHUCHARA MATA AAYE NAMO NAMAHA


Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply