Historical PeriodEra
Varies
📷 Navaneethpp · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
Deities
Śītalā Devi — the cool goddess
Śītalā — smallpox-and-cool mother of eastern India
Śītalā — smallpox-and-cool mother of eastern India
Hindu / Shakta / Folk
Śītalā ("the cool one") is the mother-goddess invoked for protection from and cure of smallpox (historically), chicken-pox, measles, and other eruptive fevers. The name is euphemistic — she IS the disease but also the cure. Shrines dot eastern India: every Bengal village has one. Worshipped at the Basanti Pūjā (spring). In older times, smallpox was thought to be her direct touch; today the disease is eradicated but the worship remains.
