Khodiyar
Khodiyar Maa (Maa meaning mother in many Indian languages) is the Hindu goddess who appeared in the story of Mamaniya Gadhvi in about AD 700.
Mamaniya Gadhvi had good relations with the then ruler Maharaj Shilbhadra. The ruler's ministers envied this exceptional relationship and hatched a plan to get rid of Mamaniya Gadhvi. They were not very successful at persuading the ruler, but they succeeded in persuading the ruler's wife queen.
One day, the doorkeepers did not let him go into the palace. When Mamaniya asked for the reason, he was told that a childless man is not worthy of the king's presence. Mamaniya returned home and wanted to ask Lord Shiva for help. When Lord Shiva did not appear, he decided to give his life away as a final sacrifice. Just when he was about to kill himself, Lord Shiva appeared and took him to the Snake Kingdom - Nagaloka to see the King of Snakes - Nagadev.
After hearing his story full of humiliation, the Nagadev's daughters decided to help too. When Mamaniya came home, with his wife he prepared, as advised by the Nagdev's daughters, eight cradles in expectation of a great event. One day eight snakes crawled into the house and Mamaniya had suddenly seven daughters and one son. One of the daughters was Khodiyar Maa. After showing many miraculous powers, people consider her to be a goddess and she has temples and shrines too. Her vehicle is the crocodile and she has many other names such as Khodal, Trishuldhari, Maavdi. Goddess is considered as a daughter of Charan. Her temples are found all over Gujarat, Rajashtan and Mumbai, but the most important four are - Matel Near Wankaner, Rajpura village near Bhavnagar, Galdhare and Daathaniya. Temple at Matel is huge and people gather on the riverbank near the temple to see a crocodile, the Goddess' mount. Another popular temple of Mataji is near Bhavnagar city at Rajpara village. There is lake near temple known as Tataniya Dharo, and for the same reason goddess is also known as Tataniya Dharawali.
A Gujarati film ‘Jai Khodiyar Maa’, was once a box office hit and Hemant Chauhan has a garba CD with the same title.
Khodiyar Surname
Many Hindu Castes mainly Charan, who worship Khodiyar Mata as their Kuldevi also use Khodiyar as their surname. Chudasama, Sawaria clans sometimes used Khodiyar as their surname as they worship Khodiyar Mata, as their Kuldevi.[1]
External links
- ↑ Kadia Kshatriya Itihas Published by Nutan Prakashan (1895) in Gujarati.