Hijda

The presence of people with an identity and social role similar to hijras goes back centuries in India, with references to ambiguously gendered figures in ancient traditional narratives. The community as it is known today rose to prominence during the sultanate period and, especially, under the Mughal empire, when trusted eunuchs held positions as guards, advisers, and intermediaries at court and in the royal harems, some reaching real political influence.

With the end of Mughal rule and the arrival of British colonial government, which began treating them as criminals, hijras lost status and protection, and the community was pushed to the margins of society, where it largely remains today.

Many hijras are cast out of or leave their family of origin while still young and go on to live in communities organized around a leadership figure, who acts as mother and guru to the rest. This structure replaces the kinship ties that were broken and provides sustenance, housing, and mutual protection.

Income comes mainly from blessings offered at weddings and births, traditional dance and song, and, for many, prostitution, given the lack of other work opportunities. Life in the group, with its own rules of hierarchy and loyalty, is what secures some measure of safety amid strong social discrimination.

The great majority follow Hinduism, with special devotion to the goddess Bahuchara Mata, associated with fertility and gender ambiguity, and there are also Muslim hijras. Many hijras go through an initiation rite and, for some, a castration ceremony offered to the goddess, understood as a consecration of their own identity.

It is widely believed that hijras have supernatural power to bless the fertility and prosperity of a couple or a newborn, and also to cast curses if disrespected. This belief keeps them within a recognized, if socially marginal, religious role, and sustains their own associations devoted to the community’s wellbeing.

The most widely spoken language among hijras is Hindi, which has had the complete Bible for more than two centuries and is widely available in text, audio, and app formats. The obstacle is not the lack of translation but distance: few Christian initiatives reach this group, and Scripture is rarely presented in a way that speaks to the experience of those living on society’s margins, rejected by their own family and surrounded by stigma.

Hijra identity is deeply tied to popular Hinduism: devotion to the goddess Bahuchara Mata, blessing rituals at weddings and births, and the belief that they hold power to bless or curse form the very sense of belonging to the community. Abandoning these practices could mean losing the only social and spiritual place that welcomed them after being rejected by their own family. Add to this the stigma, the violence suffered in prisons, police stations, and even at home, and the isolation from churches, which rarely have any connection to this world apart.

Many hijras need, above all, acceptance: rejection by their own family in childhood or adolescence leaves deep scars, and adult life remains surrounded by violence, exploitation, and lack of dignified access to work, health care, and housing. Mutual support associations of their own exist, but reach only part of the community.

There is great need for communities that offer belonging without requiring the rituals and ties that currently sustain their identity, and for Christians willing to draw near with respect, genuine friendship, and consistency, without prejudice or sensationalism.