sheetala

Sheetala, also known as Shitala or Sheetala Devi, is a Hindu folk goddess revered in parts of the Indian subcontinent. She is associated with disease, especially smallpox and fever, and with protection from illness through cooling power. The name derives from Sanskrit sheetala, meaning cool or refreshing.

Her worship is attested across northern and eastern India, including Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, as well as in Nepal and Bangladesh, typically in rural households and at village shrines. She is often regarded as a mother goddess who can both influence disease and provide healing, and her cult is frequently integrated with other local deities.

Rituals vary by region but commonly center on offerings to the goddess, prayers for children’s health, and rituals intended to stop fever. Offerings may include foods symbolizing cooling and nourishment, water, and simple sweets; in some areas images or symbols of Sheetala are kept in homes or in small shrines.

Iconography likewise varies; she is typically depicted as a woman, sometimes with a child, and in folk art she may appear in modest, domestic forms rather than in elaborate temple imagery.

Academically, Sheetala is studied as a prominent example of Hindu folk religion and the personification of disease in popular belief, illustrating how communities sought protection and healing through ritual practice prior to widespread modern medicine.