Shitala

About Shitala

Shitala's name means simply 'the cool one' — the goddess called to cool the burning of fever, smallpox and skin disease. Her ashtakam pictures her sky-clad on a donkey, a broom in one hand and a water pot in the other, with a winnowing basket balanced on her head — the broom to sweep illness away, the pot of cool water to soothe it. In Bengal, 18th-century mangal-kavya poems tell of villagers who scorned her and were struck with pox in answer. Her great day is Shitala Ashtami (Basoda), the eighth night after Holi, when no hearth fire is lit and only food cooked the day before is offered to her.