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Tooting man is Hindu goddess
The Sun ^ | March 30, 2007 | By JULIE MOULT, et al

Posted on 04/02/2007 5:11:54 AM PDT by BlackVeil

By JULIE MOULT and JOHN ASKILL and from PAMELA TIMMS in India

JOBLESS Steve Cooper has found work at last — as an Indian GODDESS who thousands of Hindus believe can cure their infertility.

Pilgrims head to a remote jungle temple to be blessed by Steve, 32, from Tooting, South West London.

He places his third finger on the their foreheads and mutters: “The goddess is here”.

Surrounded by followers, Steve told The Sun: “I love being here. I don’t miss anything about Tooting.”

He is regarded as a reincarnation of Bahucharaji, the patron of Indian eunuchs. He has been at the temple in the northern state of Gujarat for three months.

Every time Steve walks through the local village, people flock to greet him, shouting: “Jay Bahuchar Ma” - “The goddess is here.”

He said: “All my life I just didn’t fit.

“Now I’ve found my life. I plan to stay for good. I couldn’t leave now.

“They revere me and believe I am a goddess. I feel what they feel in me.”

Steve was living in a tiny flat in Tooting until deciding on his new career after Indian friends told him he looked and moved just like the ancient goddess.

As soon as he arrived at the temple he was treated as a deity.

He now gets up at dawn and dresses in a holy saffron robe before beginning the daily ritual of blessings.

Steve said: “I feel as if I have come home. I was meant to be here. When I first came to the temple, I sat down and smiled. Everything fell into place.

“After about 20 minutes everyone crowded around and I naturally started blessing people. When I touch people I connect with them.”

Hindu pilgrims have no doubts about his powers. When we asked Bhanu Barot why she was so keen to receive Prema’s blessing, she said, simply: “Because she is a goddess.”

Another woman, Rekha, said she had travelled for days to be blessed by Steve. She added: “My sister-in-law came here and she got pregnant immediately.

“I am hoping the same will happen for me after receiving the blessing of the goddess.” But last night Steve’s stunned brother Justin Cooper said: “He’s just an ordinary guy.

“He never told me anything about this.”

Steve now follows a strict vegetarian diet and sleeps in a spartan room. He lives among 80 eunuchs — castrated men — at the temple. But some have their doubts that he is equipped to be a goddess.

Goddess ... the real Bahucharaji

A eunuch called Sudha said: “He is a fake. I checked and he still has a penis.

“He is a male so can’t be a goddess. He shouldn’t give blessings.” Steve, who has a tattoo of the goddess on his arm, just insisted: “I am both male and female.”

He grew up in Shepshed, Leics, with brother Justin.

Unmarried printer Justin, 36, who still lives in the town, said: “I last saw him about four years ago.

“He had developed a fascination with Hinduism and was visiting temples in London.

“Then about eight months ago he sent me a text saying he was off to India — then another arrived saying he was loving it.

“But we had no idea of the role he was playing.”

Followers of the goddess Bahucharaji Mata believe she was once a princess who castrated her husband because he showed no interest in sex.

Sita Ben Rawal, a trustee of the temple, said of Steve: “People think it is the power of the goddess Bahucharaji that has driven her to come here.

“I’m surprised someone from London would want to come here but we are very happy.”

Vanraj Thakor, who manages the temple guest house where Steve lives, added: “Even here, pilgrims come to receive blessings. It’s incredible.”


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Religion; Society; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: hindu
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To: Thrownatbirth
Calling him "gay boy" would have brought the cops.

Did the article say this guy's name was John Edwards?

21 posted on 04/02/2007 8:53:52 AM PDT by highlander_UW (I don't know what my future holds, but I know Who holds my future)
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Let's try that again:

The god of eunuchs rides a cock.

Don't ask. Just because.

22 posted on 04/02/2007 9:02:06 AM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: KoRn; MeekOneGOP; Conspiracy Guy; DocRock; King Prout; Darksheare; OSHA; martin_fierro; ...
Followers of the goddess Bahucharaji Mata believe she was once a princess who castrated her husband because he showed no interest in sex.

So she's the goddess of PMS?


23 posted on 04/02/2007 9:03:09 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows ("By the way... who is Ben Dayho?" --60Gunner)
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To: martin_fierro

dont laugh, eunuchs have feelings too


24 posted on 04/02/2007 9:06:37 AM PDT by woofie
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To: BlackVeil
Tooting man is Hindu goddess


25 posted on 04/02/2007 9:16:02 AM PDT by Lazamataz (God: Always, In All Ways.)
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To: woofie
eunuchs have feelings too


26 posted on 04/02/2007 9:17:07 AM PDT by Lazamataz (God: Always, In All Ways.)
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To: woofie
"dont laugh, eunuchs have feelings too"

On a related note, I once explained to my somewhat slow but dear mother in law that I work with UNIX.

She exclaimed, "You're not supposed to call them that anymore are you? It's not politically correct"

27 posted on 04/02/2007 9:20:52 AM PDT by blues_guitarist ( . . . As in the days of Noah!)
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To: BlackVeil

I just hope that picture of the guy with elephantiasis in his privates doesn't make an appearance.


28 posted on 04/02/2007 9:40:09 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Monday, April 2, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: SunkenCiv


YIKES!!!!!!!!
29 posted on 04/02/2007 10:43:35 AM PDT by LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget (God punishes Conservatives by making them argue with fools.)
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To: LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget

Gonna fookin hurl!!!!!!!!


30 posted on 04/02/2007 11:21:34 AM PDT by dennisw ("What one man can do, another can do" -- The Edge)
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To: LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget

Still, I'd rather vote for him than for Al Gore. ;')


31 posted on 04/02/2007 11:57:18 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Monday, April 2, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget; Lazamataz

Laz would hit it.


32 posted on 04/02/2007 12:20:48 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows ("By the way... who is Ben Dayho?" --60Gunner)
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To: BlackVeil
Indian friends told him he looked and moved just like the ancient goddess

I would punch someone in the face if they told me that.
33 posted on 04/02/2007 12:21:39 PM PDT by BJClinton (Gore/Nader 2008!)
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To: LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget

I don't see the resemblance,
though the bottled water is a nice touch (cute sari too).


34 posted on 04/02/2007 12:26:36 PM PDT by najida (One day, a door opens, and you get a chance to start over. But the phone rings......)
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To: Slings and Arrows
Nope, I wouldn't hit it.

See my home page.

35 posted on 04/02/2007 12:33:29 PM PDT by Lazamataz (God: Always, In All Ways.)
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To: ErnBatavia; wazoo1031
This sort of qualifies...
36 posted on 04/02/2007 12:53:58 PM PDT by Allegra (Hey! Quiet Down Out There!)
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To: Lazamataz

I meant with a baseball bat.

[BTW, congrats!]


37 posted on 04/02/2007 1:24:41 PM PDT by Slings and Arrows ("By the way... who is Ben Dayho?" --60Gunner)
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To: blues_guitarist

HAAaaaaaalol that's priceless


38 posted on 04/02/2007 1:47:33 PM PDT by visualops (artlife.us)
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To: LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget

Six degrees of separation?

Cheers!

39 posted on 04/02/2007 5:36:03 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: martin_fierro

I think we've found either our answer to outsourcing, or India's answer to gay pride parades.

I think we can top it with this:

I don't know whether this:

or this

is more appropriate!

Cheers!

40 posted on 04/02/2007 5:41:43 PM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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