Chamunda Mata

Legend and Origin

Parihar tradition: community and heritage accounts make Chamunda the kuldevi and ishta-devata of the Pratihara rulers of Mandor. Tod's bardic text of the four fire-born clans names a different goddess for the Parihars, Gajan Mata, and a listing on rajputs.net gives Yogeshwari Mata for the Parihar, so the Parihar kul page on this site notes that families differ. Mandor, north of Jodhpur, was the Parihar capital before the Rathores took it in the 1380s. Rao Jodha moved the seat to the new fort of Mehrangarh in 1459. The Incredible India tourism page and the encyclopedia article on Mehrangarh say he moved the goddess's image from Mandor and built her temple at the fort in 1460. They give her as his favourite goddess, and the encyclopedia article cites the Jodhpur district portal for this. One travel source gives 1640 for the temple and another says work began in 1460 and ended in the eighteenth century, so the building may be later than the move. Jain tradition: the Osian legend makes Chamunda the goddess of Osian who accepted the Jain faith and became its protector (see Sachiya Mata); the encyclopedia article on Chamunda cites the Encyclopaedia of Jainism (2001) and Lawrence Babb's Alchemies of Violence (2004) for it and says she remained the clan goddess of the Oswals. Gujarat: the Kathiawar Gazetteer of 1884 notes the hill at Chotila that carries her temple, and Chotila was held by the Sodha Parmars before the Khachar Kathis took it in 1566.

How Families Keep the Worship

At Mehrangarh the royal family takes part in a yagna on Ashtami, the eighth day of Navratri, and the Incredible India page says lakhs of devotees come during Navratri. Crowds also come to the fort at Dussehra, and the encyclopedia article on Mehrangarh adds that many people of Jodhpur worship her; locals regard her as their protector. Among Parihar families, the Parihar kul page records that practice differs by branch: Gajan Mata and Chamunda are named in different accounts, and the Deval branch is said to honour Sundha Mata. The Rathore kul page names Nagnechiya Mata as the clan's kuldevi, so the Jodhpur house holds Chamunda as an adopted or chosen goddess alongside its family goddess, according to heritage sites. In Jain families she is a samyaktvi, a goddess who protects the Jain community. A Gujarat tourism listing says many communities there hold her as kuldevi, and a family should confirm with its own elders and priests which Chamunda shrine is its own. No family rites are given here, because the sources consulted do not set them out.

Shrines

Festivals

Stories and Legends