Beautiful Temple of Bahucharaji Near Mehasana City in Gujarat State in India

The various temples of Hindu Goddesses are situated in the Gujarat State in India. One such famous temple of Bahucharaji Mata is situated near the city of Mehasana. Most of the Hindus desire to visit this temple at least once in their life. This ancient temple is worth seeing due to its beautiful layout and the fairs held here at the temple on each full moon night of the Hindu months.

This Bahucharaji temple is situated at around 22 miles away from Mehasana and around 60 miles from the city of Ahmedabad. Though, one can reach this temple by train on Kadi- Katosan line, the best option to reach here is by hired car or taxis or the State Transport buses from all the major cities of Gujarat State. The King Manajirao Gaikwad, son of Damji Gaikwad, built this temple in the year 1783. This temple is 50 feet high and 32 feet wide. The temple has two summits and is having steps in three directions. There is a four feet high platform inside the main temple. The Balayantra of Bahucharaji Mata, made of white crystal, is placed on this platform. The original gold Shree Yantra is placed on this. There are only three other gold Shree Yantras in the world. One such Shree Yantra is at Ambaji temple, and the other is at the Tirupati Balaji temple in South India. The Mataji statue is placed on the hen, which is considered the vehicle of Bahucharaji Mata. There is a large fireplace opposite to the main temple. There are temples of Lord Bhairav and Lord Narsang Veer opposite to the fireplace. It is said that Mataji had come out at the house of Shri Vallabhbhai Dhola, one of the staunch follower of Mataji staying in this village. There is an ancient tree here. The statue of Mataji was found from below the ground under this tree. There is a large Lake, known as Mansarovar in West of this house of the devotee. The special procession is arranged at around 10 pm on few festival days. The people come here from all over the country to fulfill their desires of heart. They come again and present some items to Mataji as and when their wishes are fulfilled. Most of the Hindus have very strong faith in Bahucharaji Mataji. I have seen many people whose desires have been fulfilled after visiting this temple. There are fixed rates to be paid as decided by the temple management for various types of wishes like getting a child, first hair cut of a child, etc.

The pilgrims take a holy bath in the Lake of Mansarovar before entering the main temple. It is a belief that the sex of the person was changed from male to female and vice versa by taking a bath here in this Lake in the ancient times. That is the reason why Bahucharaji Mataji is the main goddess of the people, who are neither male nor female but fall in the middle category. The large fairs are held here at this temple on the full moon nights of the Gujarati months of Ashadh, Magasar, and Fagan. However, the biggest fair is held on the full moon night of the Gujarati month of Chaitra. Thousands of visitors come here during those fairs from all over the country. I was able to visit this temple during one of such fairs and was amazed to see the large crowd of pilgrims enjoying here at the temple.

There are no good hotels or restaurants available in the town of Bahucharaji. However, there are many dharmshalas near the temple, where the pilgrims can stay for the night by paying very nominal rates of around Rs.20 (fifty cents) per night halt. There are some shops that supply the items required to cook the food along with the necessary utensils here at Bahucharaji. However, I would not suggest staying here for the night in view of the very limited facilities of lodging and boarding. The best way would be to reach back to your city of residence by same day evening. Make sure to carry packed lunch and bottles of mineral water for drinking purpose with you. One must also be very careful, as there is a danger of pickpocket in the temple during rush hours.

Most of the Indians, particularly Gujaratis, have a very strong desire in their hearts to visit this unique place of pilgrimage. I am sure this article would be of immense help to all of them.