Religion, Devotion and Medicine in North India: The Healing Power of Sitala

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This volume examines notions of health and illness in North Indian devotional culture, with particular attention paid to the worship of the goddess Sitala, the Cold Lady. Consistently portrayed in colonial and postcolonial literature as the ambiguous 'smallpox goddess', Sitala is here discussed as a protector of children and women, a portrayal that emerges from textual sources as well as material culture. The eradication of smallpox did not pose a threat to Sitala and her worship. She continues to be an extremely popular goddess. Religion, Devotion and Medicine in North India critically examines the rise and affirmation of the smallpox myth in India and beyond, and explains how Indian narratives, ritual texts and devotional songs have celebrated Sitala as a loving mother who protects her children from the effects, and the fear, of poxes, fevers and infantile disorders but also all sorts of new threats (such as global pandemics, addictions and environmental catastrophes). The book explores a wide range of ritual and devotional practices, including scheduled festivals, songs, vows, pageants, austerities, possession, animal sacrifices and various forms of offering. Built on extensive fieldwork and a close textual analysis of sources in Sanskrit and vernacular languages (Hindi, Bhojpuri and Bengali) as well as on a rich bibliography on the struggle against smallpox in colonial and post-colonial India, the book reflects on the ambiguous nature of Sitala as a phenomenon largely dependent on the enduring fascination with the exotic, and the horrific, that has pervaded public renditions of Indian culture in indigenous fiction, colonial reports, medical literature and now global culture. To aid study, the volume includes images, web links, appendixes and a filmography.

Reviews

In Religion, Devotion and Medicine in North India the author analyses an extensive range of Indian textual and iconographic sources dating back over a millennium and convincingly demolishes the myth that the deity Sitala is a malevolent village "smallpox goddess". After this fascinating study scholarship must henceforth recognise Sitala as a benevolent goddess whose compassion is invoked, primarily by female worshipers, for the protection of children. * Alex McKay, Fellow of the International Institute for Asian Studies, The Netherlands *
In this provocative study of an Indian healing goddess, Sitala, Ferrari draws from an impressive array of sources to counter a prevailing narrative of a "capricious goddess of smallpox." Juxtaposing ethnographic vignettes and Sanskrit and vernacular sources on Sitala of the past millennium, it presents an innovative reading of an "an~calik (i.e. polyphonic)" culture where multifarious ritual practices and orthodox voices intersect around a figure of a cool, motherly goddess. Anyone interested in healing practices and goddess cult in contemporary India will find it a surprising treasure. * Jinah Kim, Assistant Professor, Department of History of Art & Architecture, Harvard University, USA *

Author Bio

Fabrizio M. Ferrari is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Chester, UK.