Alauddin Khilji was on his way to India and busy demolishing all the temples en route. He reached Siddhpur, close to the village of Becharaji. The Brahmans of Siddhpur were disturbed and annoyed with the sultan’s destructive ways and decided to fast to please lord NilkanthMahadev. The sultan asked them to prove their God and failing which, they would have to adopt Islam as their religion. Bahucharaji appeared in the dream of a Brahmin named Budar. “You need not be afraid, bring the king to Chuwala and I will show them a ‘chamatkar’, a miracle, which the Sultan would have never seen”. The Brahmins got together and got him to Chuwala, but night had fallen by then, so they decided to set up camp and wait for daybreak.
Meanwhile the sultan’s soldiers were tired and hungry. They came across a number of roosters and Khilji ordered that the soldiers make a meal out of the birds . The rooster is considered to be a holy bird, but Khilji would not listen. All the roosters were killed and eaten, except one who hid behind a rock.
The next morning, the rooster did not crow. When Bahucharaji asked the rooster as to why it did not crow, the rooster said that all his friends were killed, so who will crow back in his support. Bahucharaji told him to do his work and see. So the rooster crowed. As soon as he did, all the dead roosters came out of the soldiers stomachs and joined the chorus, killing all the soldiers who had eaten roosters the previous night.
Needless to say that Khilji did not demolish the Bahucharaji temple.
As a mark of respect it is said that till date, in all the 44 villages in and around Becharaji, the Muslims do not kill/eat the Rooster. This is considered something unique in India and also the only place in India where the Muslims do not kill/eat the rooster.
Some of the soldiers who had not eaten the roosters and were thus saved, decided to stay back and did not join the army. These soldiers who stayed back became firm believers of Bahucharaji and were thereafter referred to as ‘Kamariya’ and are said to be serving the goddess even today. This community of kamariya’s are not found anywhere in the country, proving that they did not leave Becharaji and are still serving the goddess. We did come across a person who told us that he was a kamariya and begged for alms.
Some say that as a sign of respect to the goddess, the Muslim soldiers decided to dress up as women and men simultaneously. They used to be clean shaven on one side and had a moustache on the other, wore a bangle in one hand and kept a trishul in the other and wore both the ghagra and a dhoti. We could not have anybody vouch for this as it is said that this tradition continued till two decades ago, but now stopped and not many recollect having seen any of them like this, but their belief system makes them believe in this practice.
Story collected by: Utkarsh Patel
Location: Mehsana, Gujarat
Image: The above is a painting in the premises of Bahucharaji Temple, at Bahucharaji or Becharaji as it is popularly known. The temple is in a taluka of the same name in Mehsana district in North Gujaratand is one of the Shaktipeeths in Gujarat.
