There is a god for transsexuals too

I didn’t know how to react for a moment when I read an article in the Star this morning regarding a Hindu religious festival for transsexuals which took place over a five-day period in Pandamaran, Selangor.

According to the report some 400 people participated in the ceremony which ended yesterday.

Apparently the ceremony was dedicated to goddess Bahuchara Mataji, the Hindu presiding deity for transsexuals.

Wow! A goddess for transsexuals. I knew there were thousands of gods, goddesses and demigods in the Hindu mythology but one specifically for the transgender community, and with their own dedicated temple too? Phew!!

Anyways, I did some digging in the net and this is what I discovered, including a picture of her:

• Bahuchara Mataji is seated on a rooster which symbolises innocence. She teaches that killing of all animals and creatures is a sin and that there should be nonviolence.
  


• She carries a sword on her top right, a text of scriptures on her top left. She shows the abhay hasta mudra on her bottom right (showering of blessings) and carries a trident on her bottom left.

And what’s her origin like? There are two versions.

• The first states that the goddess was once a princess who castrated her husband because he preferred going to forest and 'behaving as a woman' instead of coming to her bridal bed.


• The second says the man who attempted to molest Bahuchara cursed with impotency. He was forgiven only after he gave up his masculinity, dressed as a woman and worshipped the goddess.

Don’t ask me how these turned her into being the protector of transsexuals.

And one final bid of information - her dedicated temple is located in Shankhalpoor (Gujrat in India ). This holy place is today known as Bahucharaji.

So there we go. All that you wanted to know about the holy guardian of the transgenders.
Somehow I am still loss for words.