This document summarizes an emasculation ritual performed by the hijras community in India. It describes the ritual's religious significance as a rebirth process allowing one to achieve a higher spiritual plane. The ritual involves seeking blessings through omens, ritual preparations, and then using trance to numb the pain as the member's genitals are cut off in offering to the goddess Bahuchara Mata. Analyzing it through anthropological theories helps explain how the ritual controls anxiety and influences psychological states.

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Emasculation Ritual Among the Hijras
By Oleg Nekrassovski
This paper is about an emasculation ritual among the hijras. It seeks to describe
the background of this important ritual, as well as the ritual itself, up to, and including, its
climax. The hijras are an urban, religious, male organization, members of which are
found throughout modern India. The members of this organization dress and act like
women, and worship Bahuchara Mata, a version of Indian Mother Goddess. An
important part of hijras’ devotion to Bahuchara is their voluntary emasculation (Nanda
1999: ix).
Among the hijras, nirvan is the name given to their emasculation operation. The
meaning of the word nirvan, as used by the hijras, parallels that in Hindu scriptures
where it stands for a deep spiritual condition of calmness and absence of desire, as well
as the liberation from the finite human consciousness and a consequent move into a
higher plane of consciousness (Nanda 1999:26). This condition is called rebirth by both
Hindu scriptures and the hijras.
Hijras’ main object of religious devotion is Bahuchara Mata; one type of the
various versions of the Mother Goddess worshiped throughout India (Nanda 1999: 24).
Many Hindu myths point out the special connection of the hijras to Bahuchara Mata
(Nanda 1999: 25). In one such myth, a king’s prayer, to Bahuchara, for a son was
answered. But his new son, named Jetho, turned out to be impotent. One night Jetho
had a dream in which Bahuchara appeared to him and demanded that he cut off his
genitals, dress like a woman, and become her servant. Jetho did what he was told
(Nanda 1999: 25). And since then Bahuchara orders all impotent men, in their dreams,
to follow Jetho’s example and get castrated. And there is a consequent belief, that

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impotent men who refuse such an order from Bahuchara, will be punished by being
reincarnated impotent in the next seven lives (Nanda 1999: 25).
In Hindu mythology, rejecting a woman, especially a goddess, is a very
dangerous affair. Consequently, the worship of the Mother Goddess is rationalized
through reference to her power and the great risk involved in denying her wishes
(Nanda 1999: 33). This fear of the Mother Goddess helps to partly explain why the
hijras willingly sacrifice their genitals to her when she demands it (Nanda 1999:33).
Traditionally, Mata’s temple served as the site for performing the hijras’
emasculation operation. In 1888, however, the Raja of the area managed to outlaw
such practice at that site. Consequently, today the operation is performed in any
convenient location, not far from, or even in one of hijras’ regular dwellings (Nanda
1999: 26). Today, more so than in the past, it is necessary to perform this operation in
secret, because under Indian penal code emasculation is a criminal offence.
Interestingly, in spite of its criminalization, the hijra practice of emasculation has not
died out. In fact, some evidence suggests that it is increasing in frequency (Nanda
1999: 26). This may be so because criminalizing emasculation made it more valuable,
and hence more sacred, in the eyes of the hijras. Moreover, it is possible that many
hijras, either consciously or not, came to see the institution of punishment for
emasculation as an act of Mother Goddess aimed at testing their willingness to satisfy
her wishes. Thus, on the one hand, the threat of death, which can be a consequence of
the operation, as well as the threat of legal punishment, discourages the hijras from
getting emasculated. While on the other hand, the desire to achieve a sacred state of
being and reach a higher level of consciousness, as well as the fear of denying the
wishes of Mother Goddess, encourages the hijras to get emasculated. The fact that
many hijras do get emasculated, is a clear indicator that the impulses that encourage a
hijra to get emasculated frequently overpower the discouraging impulses.

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The ideal person for performing the emasculation operation is a hijra who bears
the title dai ma (midwife) – a term which again reinforces the conception of
emasculation as rebirth (Nanda 1999: 27). The dai ma named Meera, whom Nanda
(1999: 27) knew well, was called by Mata, in her dream, to start performing these
operations. Like other dai mas, Meera had no medical training and was convinced that
when she operates the outcome of the operation is not in her hands because the course
of the entire operation is in the power of the Mata. Meera claims that all 18 operations
that she has performed have been a success (Nanda 1999: 80).
Since it is believed that the course and the outcome of the operation are in the
hands of the Mata, it is necessary to obtain her blessing for the operation before
attempting to carry it out. To this end, an offering of food is first made to the Mata
(Nanda 1999:27). Next, the prospective nirvan (the one who is operated on) is asked,
by his dai ma, to look at the picture of Mata. The operation is deemed to succeed if
Mata appears to be smiling or laughing. If the first omen has been positive, it must be
followed by the second, in which a coconut broken by the dai ma must break evenly in
half. If it breaks unevenly, the omen is deemed to be negative and the operation cannot
take place (Nanda 1999:27). It is interesting to note that in those cases where the
omens are unfavourable, both the prospective nirvans (Nanda 1999:27) and many
anthropological theorists, interpret this as the prospective nirvans’ lack of courage to
proceed with the operation. Among the hijras that Nanda (1999: 27) met during her
fieldwork, the largest number of attempts known to have been necessary to achieve
both positive omens, was three.
The above described seeking of Mata’s blessing through omens, lends itself well
to Malinowskian analysis of religion. According to Malinowskian view, when people feel
that they have no real control over certain future events, they attempt to control these
events through supernatural means; with the end result of such attempts being that they

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relieve their anxiety over potentially negative outcomes of these events and gain an
important prerogative for determinism in action: confidence.
In our case, of course, the future event is the operation. And there is plenty of
anxiety to experience while anticipating such an event. After all, the operation is life-
threatening and (nowadays) carries legal penalties. Hence, the prospective nirvan’s
belief in Mata, in the importance of obtaining her blessing for the operation, and in the
effectiveness of obtaining this blessing through omens, allow the prospective nirvan to
overcome his fear of, and anxiety over the operation simply by obtaining a positive
omen. In this respect it important to point out that, as suggested above, a prospective
nirvan who has little fear and anxiety over the operation, will, due to his confidence, be
more likely to see Mata smiling or laughing. Moreover, if we assume that the dai ma has
significant control over the way in which the coconut breaks, then it becomes not difficult
to see that the coconut is much more likely to break evenly when the prospective
nirvan’s demeanor displays considerable confidence and courage with respect to the
anticipated operation.
Be as it may, if the omens were positive, the ritual preparation, of the prospective
nirvan to the operation, takes place. During this preparation he is isolated indoors for
anywhere between several days and a month. Aside from indoor isolation, the
prospective nirvan must observe three other taboos: no having sex, no eating spicy
food, and no looking in the mirror (Nanda 1999: 27). Nanda (1999:27) suggests that the
aim of such taboos is to create a peaceful and passive psychological state. A more
interesting theoretical consequence is produced if we again apply Malinowskian view of
religion to these taboos. According to this view, the aim of these taboos would be the
creation of further confidence, in the prospective nirvan and in the dai ma, regarding the
success of the approaching operation. In this way, the prospective nirvan’s adherence
to these taboos is a way of controlling the outcome of the operation through ritualized
magic.

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The nirvan operation is an important ceremony which, as a result, takes place at
an ideal time – early morning. While the prospective nirvan is still sleeping, the dai ma
makes an offering of food to Mata and asks her to make the knife (to be used for
operating) effective (Nanda 1999: 27). This is again an example of what would be,
according to Malinowskian analysis, an attempt to control the outcome of an
approaching event, which, if nothing else, makes the dai ma more confident in
operating.
After asking for Mata’s blessing, the dai ma wakes up her client and the
operation begins. While the dai ma ties her client’s penis and scrotum at the base with a
thread, to facilitate a clean cut, the client stares at a picture of Mata and starts repeating
her name, as if reciting a mantra (Nanda 1999: 27-28). This recitation appears to
produce a trancelike state. Once this state is achieved, the dai ma takes her knife, the
one that was blessed by the Mata, and swiftly cuts off both of her client’s sex organs;
one cut for each organ (Nanda 1999: 28). All of the hijras that had this operation, and
were surveyed by Nanda (1999: 28), said that they felt no pain when the cut was made.i
No attempt is made to stop the ensuing blood flow because this blood is seen as
the essence of masculinity which, if the initiate is to be “reborn” without maleness, must
be allowed to drain out. Due to the possibility of death in the first few hours after the
surgery, the hijras view this critical time as the struggle between the goddess of life
(Bahuchara Mata) and the goddess of death (Mata’s elder sister, Chamundeswari)
(Nanda 1999: 28). Either way, while the new initiate’s life hangs by a thread, the dai
ma’s assistant, buries the severed genitals in the earth, next to a living tree (Nanda
1999:28).ii

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References
Becker, Judith. 2007. “Music, Trancing, and the Absence of Pain.” In Pain and Its
Transformations: The Interface of Biology and Culture. Sarah Coakley and Kay
Kaufman Shelemay, eds. Pp. 166 – 94. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Damasio, A. R. 1999. The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making
of Consciousness. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Nanda, Serena. 1999. Neither Man nor Woman: The Hijras of India. 2nd ed. Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Nanda, Serena. 2002. “The Hijras: An Alternative Gender in Indian Culture.” In Religion
and Sexuality in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Stephen Ellingson and Christian M. Green,
eds. New York: Routledge.
Spiegel, Herbert, & Spiegel, David. 2004. Trance and Treatment: Clinical Uses of
Hypnosis. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc.
i
A trance is a psychological state of maximal focal concentration, at the expense of
peripheral awareness, which consequently is at a minimum (Spiegel & Spiegel 2004: 19-20).
Spiegel & Spiegel (2004) make no distinction between ‘trance’ and ‘hypnosis’ and use these
terms interchangeably. Trance induction has three main features: the aura, the enhancement,
and the plunge (Spiegel & Spiegel 2004: 28).
The ‘aura’ refers to the subject’s expectations regarding the approaching trance. These
expectations can greatly help him/her enter a trance state if, for example, he/she believes that
the anticipated trance will solve a major life problem (Spiegel & Spiegel 2004: 28). The aura that
the hijras bring to the self-induced trance during the emasculation operation, must be great.
After all, they are convinced that it is Mata’s will that they have the operation. They are also
convinced that operation at this time will be a success, because it has been approved by Mata

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through two, consecutive, positive omens. And finally, they are convinced that the operation
will give them great spiritual powers.
The ‘enhancement’ refers to the physical qualities of the trance environment, which can
help the subject enter a state of trance through natural effects on the subject’s physiology
(Spiegel & Spiegel 2004: 29). In the hijras’ trance, that we are interested in, the initiate’s focus
on Mata’s picture (which most likely takes place in dim light due to operation’s secrecy) most
likely gives him a visual fatigue. The creation of a visual fatigue is one of the most popular ways
of inducing trance, at least in the West (Spiegel & Spiegel 2004). The repetition of Mata’s name
by the initiate, doubtlessly, also helps the initiate to enter a trance state. This is because a
repetition of a simple word ought to result in auditory focus on that word, at the expense of all
other, peripheral noises.
The ‘plunge’ is the actual change from the ordinary semi-focal, semi-peripheral
awareness to maximal focal concentration, and hence maximal trance depth (Spiegel & Spiegel
2004: 30). Spiegel and Spiegel (2004) present an objective test, called the Hypnotic Induction
Profile, for testing various aspects of trance/hypnosis induction, including trance depth, for use
in Western, clinical settings. The dai ma, of course, has no knowledge of such a test. However,
she still, clearly knows when the initiate has reached his maximal trance depth. This is obvious
from the fact that when she makes the fateful cuts, the initiate feels almost no pain; indicating
the great depth of his trance.
The fact that in the state of trance the perception of even severe pain can be greatly
reduced, has been known by Western medical practitioners since the middle of the 19th
century
(Spiegel & Spiegel 2004: 312). Spiegel and Spiegel (2004) describe various techniques for
reducing pain while in the state of trance. They even discuss the physiological mechanisms
underlying the pain reducing effects of these techniques. However, all the techniques that they
describe, specifically aim at extinguishing pain, and consist of instructions in various
visualizations and imaginary sensations, to be performed by the person in pain while in the
state of trance. Nothing, however, is said regarding the potential analgesic qualities of the
trance state itself.
Becker (2007), building on the work of Damasio (1999), suggests that perception of pain
is a specific, more or less learned pattern of behavior. Moreover, a particular pattern of
behavior can only be learned by a particular ‘self’. And every person who transitions from
everyday behavior into trance, temporarily switches from his/her ‘autobiographical self’ to a
totally separate ‘trancing self’. The autobiographical self, being in every way richer and more
experienced than the trancing self, has learned to perceive pain whenever bodily tissues are
damaged, while the trancing self has not (Becker 2007). This is how the trance state itself may
make the trancing person insensitive to pain. This theory, then, easily explains why the trancing
nirvan feels no pain at a moment when his genitals are cut off.
ii
The practice of burying nirvan’s genitals has clear connections to Hinduism. In one Hindu
creation myth, Shiva, an important Hindu deity, breaks off his linga (phallus) and throws it into
the earth, where it immediately becomes a source of universal fertility. As a result, those who
seek his procreative power, worship his linga (Nanda 2002: 140). Thus, this myth strongly
identifies Shiva with the hijras, who can impart procreative powers to others because their

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severed sex organs are buried in the earth, and thereby provides strong support to the
emasculation ritual that the hijras often undergo (Nanda 2002: 148).