Hindu Mythology

The colorful deities and demons of India...

SHITALA

Hindu Sickness Goddess

Goddess of Colds, Flu, Smallpox and Disease

Smallpox? When it comes to deities who deal in horrible things, Shitala must be in the top ten.

She’s known as Mother Cold. Probably because she stands around naked to encourage the chills and shivers. This doesn’t sound very cool to us. Let’s be honest, her name does not inspire much enthusiasm either.

Shitala has a golden face and dresses in red like a malevolent Red Riding Hood. If you wish to avoid catching a horrible disease, be sure to give her a gift. We hear she is fond of flowers.

Although smallpox has now been eradicated from the surface of the Earth, Shitala still gets a fair bit of attention from those with nervous tendencies. After all, what if it comes back?

Shitala Facts and Figures

Name: Shitala
Pronunciation: Coming soon
Alternative names:

Gender: Female
Type: Goddess
Celebration or Feast Day: Unknown at present

Role:
In charge of: Disease & Sickness
Area of expertise: Disease, Sickness, Illness

Good/Evil Rating: BAD, best avoided
Popularity index: 3393

Copy this link to share with anyone:



Share this page on social media:


Link to this page:

HTML: To link to this page, just copy and paste the link below into your blog, web page or email.

BBCODE: To link to this page in a forum post or comment box, just copy and paste the link code below:

Cite this article

Here's the info you need to cite this page. Just copy the text in the box below.


Article last revised on November 04, 2018 by Rowan Allen.
Editors: Peter J. Allen, Chas Saunders

References: Coming soon.

Permissions page


Oh woe. Javascript is switched off in your browser.
Some bits of this website may not work unless you switch it on.