Home › Mehsana Festivals › Bahucharaji Mela
FAIR · SHAKTI PEETH · BAHUCHARAJIBahucharaji Mela
Bahucharaji is one of Gujarat’s three great Shakti shrines — a Mother-Goddess temple whose fairs draw vast crowds of devotees to honour Bahuchara Mata, borne on her cockerel.
A great shrine of the Mother Goddess
Bahucharaji is counted among the principal Shakti Peeths of Gujarat, dedicated to Bahuchara Mata, a form of the Mother Goddess traditionally depicted riding a cockerel. The temple is a place of intense devotion, and its fairs — held on auspicious full moons and festival days — fill the town with pilgrims who come for darshan, to fulfil vows and to seek the goddess’s blessing. The shrine holds special reverence in many communities.
One of three Shakti shrines
Bahucharaji is one of the three great seats of the Goddess in Gujarat, alongside Ambaji in the north and Kalika Mata at Pavagadh.
Bahuchara Mata is depicted riding a cockerel, and the image appears everywhere in and around the temple town.
The shrine has drawn pilgrims for centuries, and the present temple complex grew up around a far older sacred site.
Full-moon days and Navratri bring enormous crowds, and Chaitri Poonam is the largest gathering of the year.
Why come
Shakti Peeth
One of the three principal Shakti shrines of Gujarat, and pilgrims commonly visit all three as a set.
The cockerel
The cockerel is the goddess's mount and her identifying mark, carried on banners and images throughout the fair.
Temple mela
The melas draw tens of thousands, with the plaza and the approach roads full for days at a time.
Aarti
The devotion here is intense — this is a vow-keeping shrine, and many come to complete something promised.
Vows fulfilled
Bahuchara Mata is the patron deity of India's hijra and transgender communities, for whom this is the principal pilgrimage.
Full-moon days
Chaitri Poonam and Navratri are the peaks; outside them the temple is busy but manageable.
What to see
THE SHRINEBahucharaji
The seat of Bahuchara Mata at Shankhalpur, in Mehsana district.
THE MELAThe temple fair
Pilgrims arriving in strength on full moons and through the nine nights of Navratri.
How it's observed
Reach the temple
Take darshan at the Shakti Peeth itself, the reason every pilgrim here has made the journey.
Take darshan
Look for the cockerel, the goddess's mount, worked into images and banners across the complex.
Join the mela
Come on a full-moon day if you want to see the shrine at full pitch — Chaitri Poonam most of all.
Offer the aarti
Watch the lamp offerings and the queues of devotees, which run continuously through festival days.
Fulfil a vow
Understand what a vow-keeping shrine means here; a great many pilgrims come to complete a promise.
Share the prasad
Take prasad from the temple, and buy the red cloth and coconuts from the stalls as devotees do.
Devotion to the Mother
Shakti worship — devotion to the Divine Mother in her many forms — runs deep in Gujarat, and Bahucharaji is one of its holiest addresses. The temple is a place of vows and thanksgiving, of families arriving for a child’s first tonsure or to give thanks for prayers answered. Its melas are thus intensely personal as well as grand: a meeting of private faith and collective celebration.
See what else is nearby in our guide to Mehsana.
Timing
Chaitri Poonam, the spring full moon, brings the biggest mela of the year and the largest crowds.
Navratri turns the whole complex into nine nights of continuous worship, and is the other great peak.
Outside the festivals the temple is open year-round for darshan, and October to March is the comfortable season.
⏰ Open year-round for darshan; full moons and Navratri bring the largest fairs and crowds.
Getting there
By Air
Ahmedabad (~110 km).
By Rail
Mehsana / Chanasma.
By Road
Bahucharaji town.
More in Mehsana
JANUARY
Modhera Dance Festival
Classical dance against the floodlit Sun Temple. Explore →
VADNAGAR
Tana-Riri Fest
Vadnagar honours two sisters of legend — Tana and Riri, said to have sung the raga that cured Tansen — with an annual classical-music festival in one of Gujarat’s oldest living towns. Explore →
DAIRY
Cooperative Culture
Mehsana is milk country — home to one of Asia’s great dairy unions, where the cooperative model turned countless small farmers into the backbone of a white revolution. Explore →
CRAFT
Patola Weaving
Patola is North Gujarat’s crowning textile — a double-ikat silk so painstaking that each thread is dyed to pattern before weaving, producing a cloth identical on both sides and prized for centuries. Explore →
What to eat
PRASADTemple Prasad
Blessed sweets.
THALIGujarati Thali
Pilgrim fare.
FARSANFarsan
Savoury snacks.
CHAASChaas
Spiced buttermilk.
Bahucharaji Mela FAQ
What is Bahucharaji?
One of Gujarat's three great Shakti Peeths — a Mother Goddess temple dedicated to Bahuchara Mata at Shankhalpur, visited alongside Ambaji and Kalika Mata at Pavagadh by pilgrims making the circuit of all three.
Who is Bahuchara Mata?
A form of the Divine Mother, traditionally depicted riding a cockerel, and deeply revered across Gujarat. She is also the patron deity of India's hijra and transgender communities, for whom Bahucharaji is the principal place of pilgrimage.
When are the fairs?
On auspicious full moons — Chaitri Poonam in spring above all — and through the nine nights of Navratri, when the crowds are at their largest and accommodation books out well ahead.
Why do people visit?
For darshan, to fulfil vows and to give thanks. It is a major vow-keeping shrine, and a great many pilgrims arrive to complete something promised at an earlier time.
Where is it?
At Shankhalpur in Mehsana district, about 35 km from Mehsana town and roughly 110 km from Ahmedabad. It combines easily with Modhera and Patan on the same day out.
Is it open year-round?
Yes. The temple is open daily for darshan through the year, with the crowds peaking sharply on full moons and festival days.
Across Gujarat
STEPWELLRegional Vavs
Carved stepwells scattered across the district
NATUREBalaram-Ambaji
Forested hills rich in wildlife
HILL FORTIdar Hill & Fort
A granite stronghold over the town
HERITAGEMS University
India’s famed Faculty of Fine Arts campus
Polo Forest Ruins
The Polo Forest Ruins are a group of old temples and stepwells hidden within the forested…
Old City Bazaars
◐ Colour & textiles
WHERE TO STAY
Find your stay in Gujarat
Compare live prices across the big booking sites and reserve in a few taps. Booking happens securely on the partner's site — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Book directly on our partner sites — tap a provider to see live Gujarat hotels & prices:
SHOP THE REGION
Bring home Gujarat — & travel essentials
Hand-picked crafts and trip gear, available on Amazon.
Published 24 June 2026 · Updated 3 July 2026