Shitla satam : smallpox माता का प्रकोप या इंफेक्शन?

The whole of August was full of festivals, Rakshabandhan, independent day, friendship day, Janmashthami, Shitla Satam etc.  Here , my blog is about beliefs superstition was existed in the pre-era times just because of lack of awareness. Click here to see my Study guide, prepared by Dr. Dilip Barad. The Head Of ENGLISH DEPARTMENT.

    THE HISTORY OF SHITLA SATAM

  AS PER INDIAN MYTHOLOGY

The Fair falling on Shravan sud Vad 7 known as shitala satam. It is observed on sud 7 in Mumbai and some parts of Gujarat . 

                                  

"Shitala Mata is worshiped by women  
for obtaining offspring for 
the Welfare of the children

 and alsofor the 

         long life of their husbands."              

 In the the epidemic form smallpox is preserved over by goddess shitala while Baliyadev popularity gold Baliyakaka Or powerful uncle is worshipped by isolated individuals sufferers from smallpox. Both are propitiated by parents. Specially by mothers the Ballia or Saiyad when the child is actually attacked by smallpox, box or measles and shitala.

The temple of shitla Mata is generally on the outskirts of the village under a peepal tree or on the bank of river or a pond. In the absence of such a temple the village Brahman puts a stone or mud image ab shitala Mata under peepal tree for the women to worship. In scriptures,

" The goddess who is said to be after chandaal

 or impure caste  is shown naked, seated on a donkey 

wearing a broken winnowing fan on her head and 

with a broom one  hand."

 Milk, curd, white pepper, betel-nut, dry dates, kopra, millet grains, kuler, I.e, mixture of the wheat flour and ghee and gur, flower neem leaves and silver replicas of eyes are the articles offered in worship. The use of neem leaves is considered beneficial for the patient of smallpox. neem has antiseptic properties and the suffers's bad in covered with neem leaves.

Saiyad Kaka aur baliya Kaka is supposed to live in a stone or a stone but said to be that Ghatotkach or Ghatorgachh, the son of Bhimsen. The second pandava by the demoness Hidimba.The image of baliyakaka is generally kept in a temple of mahadev in a niche of a private house, near a reservoir or under a neem. samas or Rukhda tree on the outskirts of the village.

TREATMENT OF SMALLPOX,

COVERED WITH BELIEFS

 The days of the week  the treatment of smallpox a particular mode of treatment is described till the offerings are made on the 7th 13 or 21st day after appearance of the disease.the conduct of the child's parents during this days is believed in invariably to influence the child's health. 

"No medicine is given as it is believed

 that the disease appears throughout

 some error or fault in the worship of

 shitala Mata or Baliyakaka."

 The disease child wears warm clothes his body is kept covered with a blanket and only Ghee, Milk, Gur, Bajara, Bread and Pepper are given to him in diet avoiding salt. after the offerings are made the patient is allowed to take curd sugar candy and raisins. Some superstitions prohibitions are adopted owning to the fear of death.

   "Parents take Vows to place the deity 

 in various ways after the recovery of the child"

The festival of of shitala satam is particularly important to women. They are  free from the worry of the kitchen as the food for the day in prepared on the previous day of Randhan chatth, because it is customary to take cold meals on this day. smallpox is believed to be caused by heat artificial heat is avoided honest shitala satam as far as possible. 

"Orthodox Hindus believe that shitla Mata

 visits the kitchen and wallows  the hearths 

and as such they should be kept cold 

otherwise she may curse the family with smallpox."

whatever may be the popular belief behind the observance it gives a day's rest to women from cooking. housewife if not all the members of the family bath in the cold water in the morning women along with the children visit the Shirne of shitala Mata and in worship offer besides the usual articles, a piece of silk cloth called Ghatdi. or in absence of that a cotton thread which is wrapped around the image. It was formerly custom to feed 5 ,7 ,9, 13 boys or girls with stale food near the goddess. If any member in the family had suffered from smallpox in the course of the year some women whose children do not live long take to take  vow food begged from 7 houses of relatives.

For Marital bliss women here the story of Shubhkari. The daughter of king Indradyumna of Hastinapur and  queen Dharmashila. goddess shitala who was placed by her devotion had revived her husband who has died of snake bite it is believed that women who performs the Vrata a of shitalamata and years story does not suffer widowhood.

CLICK HERE for " VRTAKATHA" of shitla mata

#Eye opener video  about the breaking beliefs of shitla satam.

#History of EDWARD JENNER and SMALLPOX 

Edward Jenner was an English country doctor who introduced the vaccine for smallpox. Previously a keen practitioner of smallpox inoculation, Jenner took the principle a stage further by inducing immunity against this killer disease via exposure to a harmless related disease, cowpox.  This smallpox caused by

His technique provided safer and more reliable protection than traditional inoculation.

.

Working in an agricultural community, Jenner knew of the country folklore that milkmaids never caught smallpox. They were known for their relatively flawless complexions, which were unmarked by smallpox scarring. However, they inevitably caught cowpox through their close work with cows. Jenner speculated that a bout of cowpox produced immunity against smallpox and even encountered locals who claimed to have deliberately infected themselves to provoke such a response. As a forward-thinking doctor who liked to experiment, Jenner wanted to prove his theory. In 1796 he inserted pus taken from Sarah Nelmes, a milkmaid with cowpox, into a cut made in the arm of a local boy, James Phipps. Several days later, Jenner exposed the boy to smallpox. He was found to be immune.

One more concept releted with this festival cum  disease, have read Dilip Barad's views on,

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10156819643472472&id=533772471

As in the past, many  superstitions continue to exist today.  Various new experiments come in to captivate people and play against people's beliefs or superstitions.  With the intention of alleviating the misery of the people, they are cheats people.

#  THE CONTROVERSY OF " DHABUDI MAA"