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There's a lot that's wrong with this story. Seriously, a lot.
John 11:35 Jesus wept.
Originally posted by Sindependent
When is a eunuch not a eunuch? Perhaps when she is a British eunuch.
For centuries India's eunuchs have travelled to religious ceremonies bestowing luck and good fortune upon those willing to pay for it. But now a British transsexual has caused upset at an Indian temple popular with eunuchs because her ability to attract large donations from devotees has left a number of her fellow transsexuals feeling shortchanged.
If reports in the Indian press are to be believed, a British transsexual called Pamela has become extremely popular with devotees at a temple in the Indian state of Gujarat who come for blessings from the temple's eunuchs, known as hijras. Dressed in a silk saffron sari, her forehead marked with a red tikka mark, Pamela looks like other hijras as she blesses pilgrims at the Bahucharaji temple, a place popular with childless women looking to become pregnant.
Hijras will normally give blessings to pilgrims if they donate a small sum of money, which is usually one or two rupees - less than a penny. But according to some reports Pamela, whose name has been Indianised by devotees to "Prema", has regularly attracted donations of more than 500 rupees, more than a day's wages for many of India's poorest.
Some of the temple's older hijras were reportedly so upset by her ability to attract devotees that they even hatched a plan to find out whether she was a real transsexual or not. "We were alarmed by the incident and soon provided her an accommodation in the temple guesthouse," an unnamed temple official told the IANS news agency, after finding out about the plan.
Details of who exactly Pamela is are hard to come by, largely because she has been reluctant to talk to the press. Journalists reported that her birth name was Stephen Louis, and that she comes from London.
"Some Gujaratis in London, noticing Stephen's eunuch-like body language and behaviour, helpfully told him about the Bahucharaji temple," said Gunavant Joshi, a resident of the town where the temple is based.
"Stephen then made a search on the internet on Goddess Bahucharaji, considered the goddess of eunuchs. He found all necessary information on the Net.
"He even got a printout of the picture of the goddess and showed [it] to a tattoo artist and got a similar image tattooed on his left arm," Mr Joshi said.
"Pamela gets up early in the morning," said the unnamed temple official. "She attends all [ceremonies] in the temple. Also, she has become a pure vegetarian. She eats Gujarati food in the temple dinning hall."
For centuries India's eunuchs have travelled to religious ceremonies bestowing luck and good fortune upon those willing to pay for it. But now a British transsexual has caused upset at an Indian temple popular with eunuchs because her ability to attract large donations from devotees has left a number of her fellow transsexuals feeling shortchanged.
If reports in the Indian press are to be believed, a British transsexual called Pamela has become extremely popular with devotees at a temple in the Indian state of Gujarat who come for blessings from the temple's eunuchs, known as hijras. Dressed in a silk saffron sari, her forehead marked with a red tikka mark, Pamela looks like other hijras as she blesses pilgrims at the Bahucharaji temple, a place popular with childless women looking to become pregnant.
Hijras will normally give blessings to pilgrims if they donate a small sum of money, which is usually one or two rupees - less than a penny. But according to some reports Pamela, whose name has been Indianised by devotees to "Prema", has regularly attracted donations of more than 500 rupees, more than a day's wages for many of India's poorest.
Some of the temple's older hijras were reportedly so upset by her ability to attract devotees that they even hatched a plan to find out whether she was a real transsexual or not. "We were alarmed by the incident and soon provided her an accommodation in the temple guesthouse," an unnamed temple official told the IANS news agency, after finding out about the plan.
Details of who exactly Pamela is are hard to come by, largely because she has been reluctant to talk to the press. Journalists reported that her birth name was Stephen Louis, and that she comes from London.
"Some Gujaratis in London, noticing Stephen's eunuch-like body language and behaviour, helpfully told him about the Bahucharaji temple," said Gunavant Joshi, a resident of the town where the temple is based.
"Stephen then made a search on the internet on Goddess Bahucharaji, considered the goddess of eunuchs. He found all necessary information on the Net.
"He even got a printout of the picture of the goddess and showed [it] to a tattoo artist and got a similar image tattooed on his left arm," Mr Joshi said.
"Pamela gets up early in the morning," said the unnamed temple official. "She attends all [ceremonies] in the temple. Also, she has become a pure vegetarian. She eats Gujarati food in the temple dinning hall."
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