On the way to Dasada, we passed several vehicles carrying a conical shape structure with brightly colored decorations. Our guide told us that it was used as part of the Kavadi celebration of the Hindu mother goddess. We stopped at the Bahucharaji Mataji Temple where devotees were engaged in celebration. Stalls leading up to the Temple sold coconut, bright cloth, sweets, flowers, red powder and a few other items. One man had a silver box containing silver repoussé representations of things people would wish for. For example, one might buy a figure of a child in hopes of having a baby, while a person who was lame might buy a representation of a leg, in hopes of being healed.
Framed by a pair of carved stone columns was a small altar covered in red powder. Partially obstacle obscured by more red powder was a picture of the goddess Bala Bahuchar, whose blessing cured any disability and impotency. On the wall behind it, more red powder was spread, in the shape of swastikas and random fingerprints. Next to a small building were some eunuchs. Devotees began gathering around us, eager to take our picture with their families. Near a corner we saw one of the conical structures decorated with brightly colored streamers and a clay pot below it, representing fertility.
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