Shitala satam

  Hello everyone, this blog is response to kavisha ma'am's task.In this blog i will discuss about shitala satam.

          Randhan Chhath is an important date particularly in the Hindu Gujarati calendar it falls on the 6th day of Shrava Mahina, it is celebrated one day before Shitala Satam.  On this day no fires are lit in the home including the cooker. Families eat the food cooked on the day before which is Ramdhan  Chhath.

         The religious festival is dedicated to the Goddess Shitala Ma.  Lots of lovely food is prepared on the day of Randhan Chhath and consumed on the next day Shitala Satam. In India,every family would prepare puri, debra, potatoe shak, duud pak, chana shak, and all the family would sit and share the food after the pooja.

Religious reasons 

       The deity is principally featured as a women’s goddess, portrayed as a mother who defends children from paediatric ailments, such as exanthemata. She also serves as a fertility goddess, who assists women in finding good husbands and the conception of healthy sons. Her auspicious presence promises the welfare of the family, and is also considered to protect the devotee's sources of livelihood. Sheetala is also summoned to ensure refreshing rainfall and the prevention of famines, droughts, as well as cattle diseases.

The Skanda Purana describes her role:

For the sake of quelling boils and blisters (of smallpox) and for the sake of the children, a devotee takes Masūra lentils by measures and grinds them. Due to the power of Śītalā, children become free from the disease.

           Shitala, (Hindi: “She Who Is Cool”) Indian goddess of smallpox and of other infectious diseases. She is worshipped under this name throughout the regions of South Asia in which Indo-Aryan languages are spoken. In India she is widely worshipped in the rural areas of West Bengal state. In much of Dravidian-speaking India, a goddess called Mariamma possesses similar disease-causing powers. Although temples to Shitala are found in various places in North India, including Varanasi (Benares), her mythology is highly elaborated in West Bengal and Bangladesh, where mangal-kavya (“auspicious poems”) in Bengali, dating mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries, describe the appearance of the goddess among mortals, their rejection of her, and the smallpox epidemics that she visited upon them. She is worshipped in villagewide rites mainly in the dry weather of winter and spring, the seasons most favourable to smallpox transmission

Scientific reason 

       Sheetala Saptami today; the scientific reason behind having a cold meal cooked a day earlier on this day

         This vrat calls for devotees eating 'stale' but clean food. It has to be cold (room temperature) and must include sour elements. What is the science behind the prescribed manner of the Shitala Saptami festival?

Shitla Mata or Sheetala Mata moorti

       Shitla Mata or Sheetala Mata moortiKey HighlightsSheetala Saptami is a day on which Mata Sheetala or Goddess Shitala is worshippedOn this day, devotees pray for good health and long life of their childrenCold food, cooked a day earlier and stored in a safe manner, along with tangy elements is to be eaten this day

         It is called by several names. In Gujarat, they call it the Sheetala Satam, Shitala Satam or Shitala Saptami. It falls on the seventh day of the Krishna Paksha (dark fortnight/waning fortnight) of the Hindu calendar based on lunar phases.

            Devotees take on a vrat or fasting ritual complete with worship rituals. The fast is in honour of Shiatala Mata the Goddess mentioned in Skanda Puranas. She is depicted riding a donkey and carries a broom. Women worship her to pray for the health and long life of their children. 

A day of no cooking, a day to eat food cooked a day earlier

        This festival is at a time when the region (India being a tropical country) is in the midst of the monsoon. At several places, it is pretty hot and humid.

          It is said that eating simple, non-spicy, cold food stored safely from a day before is prescribed to be eaten on this day according to the shastras (ancient principles) as a relaxant to the digestive system. Sheetal is cold. The Sheetala Mata vrat incorporates 'sheetal' (cold, calming) food so that the stomach is not aggravated and gets food that is easy to digest. 

          One is supposed to bathe in water at room temperature. No hot water baths on this day. This adds to overall body invigoration. 

The symbolism of elements Sheetala Mata wears:

         The Goddess is depicted carrying a broom and wearing a garland of neem leaves to signify the importance of cleanliness and keeping your surroundings clean. She is also shown carrying a kalash or a small pot of water.

         Clean water is essential for good health. The Goddess carrying a kalash of water is significant in those aspects.

   

         Neem is a natural, tree product that has immense medicinal value. In the olden days when antibiotics had not yet been discovered, neem would be the go-to element in nature to carry out body detox or fight germs and infection. At the time of peaking monsoon, the body can use all support it gets to stay calmer, healthier and energetic.

The Vitamin-C diet our ancestors valued:

         Sheetala Mata is considered as a Goddess who frees humans of diseases and her idol carries the elements that depict things that keep us healthier. Even for those who do not believe in religious principles, the health and hygiene principles underlying this worship are undeniable.

Vaccination of smallpox

          The smallpox vaccine is the first vaccine to be developed against a contagious disease. In 1796, the British doctor Edward Jenner demonstrated that an infection with the relatively mild cowpox virus conferred immunity against the deadly smallpox virus. Cowpox served as a natural vaccine until the modern smallpox vaccine emerged in the 20th century. From 1958 to 1977, the World Health Organization (WHO) conducted a global vaccination campaign that eradicated smallpox, making it the only human disease to be eradicated. Although routine smallpox vaccination is no longer performed on the general public, the vaccine is still being produced to guard against bioterrorism, biological warfare, and monkeypox.