Bahuchara Mata – An Indian Trans Icon

The story of how Bahuchara Mata became the patron deity of Indian hijras reveals the community’s gift for creativity, resourcefulness and irrepressible joy. It shows us how marginalised communities create safe spaces and forge symbols of hope to sustain themselves, and nurture the generations to come. India’s transgender community's devotion to the Goddess is a moving testament to how meaningful it can be to live your truth and own your story.

The legend of Bahuchara Mata goes something like this. In 14th century Saurashtra, a caravan carrying three sisters was attacked by a bandit called Bapiya. He might not have risked the ambush if he knew his victims belonged to the Charan caste. The Charans were poets, bards and warriors, but more importantly, their lives were believed to be divinely protected—anyone who harmed them would be cursed by the gods. To enact this fate, when a Charan was faced with danger, they would kill themselves through an act of ritual mutilation, cursing the perpetrator with their last breath. And this is what the three sisters did.

Leading them was Bahuchara, who cut off her breasts and cursed Bapiya with impotency; he would live ‘as a eunuch’ for seven lifetimes. The cursed man fell to his knees begging for mercy. Relenting, Bahuchara offered redemption. If he made a temple in her name where she died, and worshipped her in the garb of a woman, she would absolve him of sin. 

 

If this mythology explains how Bahuchara became a goddess, another, more contemporary one cements her position as a bestower of fertility. This one also involves gender transgression. When the Marathas conquered this region of Gujarat in the 18th Century, Bahuchara Mata’s temple began to be patronised by the Gaikwad dynasty. Legend has it that when Prince Jetho of the clan prayed to the Goddess to cure his impotence, she ordered him to castrate himself and worship her in the form of a woman. In doing this, he would spare himself from the same fate in the lifetimes to come.

Today, Bahuchara Mata is worshipped as a goddess of fertility in Rajasthan and Gujarat. She is regarded as a Mother Goddess, an incarnation of Durga. Visually, what makes her stand out from the pantheon of Matas is her vahana or mount: a proud rooster with a beautiful plume in all the colours of a rainbow. Her main temple is located in Becharji, a town in Gujarat named for her, a pilgrimage for couples battling infertility. And for hijras.

In the Indian subcontinent, the most visible community of transgendered people are hijras. Referred to as the ‘third gender’ in Hindu scripture and the laws of the land, they occupy a unique place on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. Hijra is an expansive term that applies to intersex, transgender and non-binary folks. Some undergo ritual castration as an initiation into the community, but this is not mandatory.

Trans people have long been part of the social fabric in India. This is evidenced by the many regional names for them, which trans activist, artist and writer Gee Imam Semmlar lists in a 2014 paper: hijra, thirunangai, kinnar, mangalamukhi, Aravani, kothi, jogappas, shiv shaktis, thirunambis, bhaiyya, and paiyyan. And yet, they are a marginalised people. By adopting a Hindu goddess like Bahuchara Mata as their patron saint, transfolk secure legitimacy and acceptance within mainstream culture. By identifying with her sacrifice, they step into their own power to be transformed through pain.

Maneka Chaturthi, a hijra who worships Bahuchara Mata, explained it beautifully in an interview with Kunal Kanodia, who wrote a 2016 paper on the subject: “I underwent castration not so that they would recognize me as a woman, or even so that they would think of me as a hijra. After all, there are many uncastrated hijras. I was castrated to remind myself of Mata’s desire to be worshipped. If she could chop off her own breasts, she can give me the strength to live my life.”

 

More reading

Kanodia, Kunal "Bahuchara Mata." Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies 7, no. 1 (2016)

Roscoe, W. (1996). Priests of the Goddess: Gender Transgression in Ancient Religion. History of Religions, 35(3), 195–230. 

Semmalar, G. I. (2014). Unpacking Solidarities of the Oppressed: Notes on Trans Struggles in India. Women’s Studies Quarterly, 42(3/4), 286–291. 

Kunihiro, A. (2022) Against taxonomy and subalternity: Reconsidering the thirdness and ..., South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal. Accessed: 29 May 2025