Hoi Mata Ki Jai!!!!!!!!

Today was a very auspicious day .It is Hoi Ashtami when my mom keeps a fast for me ,for my long life and basically my prosperity and in the evening we gather and pray together and an elderly of the family tells the story of Hoi Mata .

It goes like this as narrated by my Massar Ji who is the eldest here .

Long Long ago there used to be a King .He had a problem that he did not have any children.So one day a Sage comes to his court and gives him a Mango and asks him to give it to his Rani and she will have a child .The King had 2 Queens so he decides to give half Mango to each Queen.After that both the queens have a son but the are also half(sideways).Then all the People in his region ask him to kill them as they might be bad omen for the king .So the king orders his servants to kill the kids.Instead of killing them the servants just leave the kids in a jungle.That Night Hoi Mata comes to the jungle and on seeing the half kids takes pity on them and joins them.The next day King comes to know of this deed .He then Prays to Hoi Mata and thanks her .

This is the story i've been hearing since my childhood .there are various versions of it and there are also some other stories like the following one with a descriptin of this festival.


Hoi Ashtami - 2nd November, 2007

This is celebrated 4 days after Karwa Chauth (see festivals section). Women with children fast for the day and pray before sunset. They make a picture of Hoi Mata (mother Hoi), on a wall in a clean place. The story of Siau mata (mother fox) is told by one of the women to everyone;

Once upon time their was a potter family. They had two brothers, whose families lived in one house. One day, the younger brother asked his wife to dig up and bring clay pots for a pre-Diwali market. While digging, she accidentally killed 7 baby foxes with her spade. Their mother came out, very angry. She laid a curse on the potter family "your family will die, because you have killed mine". The woman cried, asking the foxes forgiveness, "I will do anything you want, but please spare my family". The fox said, "you will have to give me seven of your children, as they are born, as a compensation". The woman agreed and returned home feeling very sad.

Following this incident, whenever she had a child, she took it and gave it to the mother fox. Every year on Hoi Ashtami, all other women of the house celebrated and everyone was happy, except her. One day, a sage came to their house and told her that if she prayed to Hoi mata with full devotion, she may be able to reverse the curse pt upon her by the fox. The next year, the woman fasted and prayed with complete devotion. Hoi mata was pleased. She requested the mother fox to return the woman’s children, “she has suffered enough”. Fox agreed and returned the woman’s children. Her family was complete. Once again her home was filled with the noise and laughter of children.

Women finish the story saying, “O Hoi mata, look after my children, as you looked after hers”.

After stars appear, women offers water to the stars and break their fast. In north Indian homes, the food consists of family favourite vegetarian dishes, including poories and sweet desserts.


So once again Bolo Hoi Mata Ki Jai!!!!!