by Sunita Shah
One of the tales I never knew about growing up as a child is the story of Shitala Ma. So who is Shitala Ma? Shitala’s name means “the cooling one”. Shitala Mata is mentioned in many scriptures, especially in Skanda Purana as the goddess of smallpox. She is an incarnation of Goddess Parvati. She is both the cause of the disease and the cure. When Shitala Devi first arose from a sacrificial fire, Lord Brahma told her that humans would always worship her, as long as she carried the seeds of a particular lentil called urad daal. Along with her companion, Jvarasura, the demon of fever created from the sweat of god Shiva, she travelled to visit other gods.
