Hello readers! I'm Insiya Alvani, a student of the Department of English MKBU. Here i write this blog in response to the task assigned by Kavisha ma'am. In this blog I am going to discuss religion and the myth of shitla satam. 

 

"Tale Of A Tub" is the first major work by Jonathan Swift. Tale of a Tub takes its own winding, unique course to set up an allegory for the state of religion in the early 18th century. The reader learns about Swift’s satirical view of religion, as well as about the nature of critique,thought and writing itself. 

What is Religion?

The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to explain the origin of life or the universe. Our society is a "Religion-Dominated Society", the hold of religion over the masses is very strong. Here everything is done in the name of religion, even misdeeds are committed in the name of religion. Both in Urban and Rural areas people have a strong belief in religion and they worship gods and goddesses. There are many sects of religion, and each one preaches its own faith and ideology. 

 

Myth of shitla satam

A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. Month of August is full of festivals. 15th August Independence Day is also in this month and other religious festivals like Rakshabandhan, janmashtami, Eid Al-Azha, molakat, devaso, deep puja etc..   

Shitla is a Hindu goddess venerated primarily in North India. She is regarded to be an incarnation of the goddess Parvati. She is believed to cure poxes, sores, ghouls, pustules, and diseases, and most directly linked with the disease smallpox. The celebration of the goddess Sheetala on the seventh and eighth day of the Hindu month is referred to as the Sheetala Saptami and Sheetala Ashtami. The origin of the myth of Shitala lies in Skanda Purana which states that Shitala holds the broom in one of her hands and a Kalash in the other hand. People don't think Shitalaa is not any kind of Devi but that it is the one disease of that century. People don't think rationally but only emotionally. Women who fear about her child's health and future that's why who rigidly follow the rules. 

Edward Jenner and the history of smallpox and vaccination

In ancient times in India smallpox was prevented through the tikah (inoculation). Kurt Pollak (1968) writes, "preventive inoculation against the smallpox, which was practiced in China from the 11th century, apparently came from India". This inoculation process was generally practiced in large parts of Northern and Southern India, but around 1803-04 the British government banned this process. It's banning " - D.P. Agrawal and Lalit Tiwari.

Edward Jenner is well known around the world for his innovative contribution to immunization and the ultimate eradication of smallpox. In India there are many ways to fight with Smallpox but people believe in religious things rather than science. So Edward Jenner found the vaccine and convinced the whole world, that's why we called pioneer of the smallpox vaccine. Click here for more information about Edward Jenner

Two ‘Corona Devi’ idols set up in the southern city of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu state as the country battles a new infection surge. Priests at an Indian temple are saying daily prayers to two coronavirus goddesses in an effort to tame the pandemic as the country battles a new infection surge. 

Here I share a contemporary example which we saw during COVID pandemic. I collected this information from a newspaper and news channels. 

The Kamatchipuri Adhinam temple is closed to worshippers because of Coimbatore’s high infection rates but priests are paying tribute in front of the goddesses, one made of sandalwood and the other from stone. They leave food and other offerings, chant prayers urging an end to the pandemic and bathe the idols in turmeric water and milk.

“We have had similar temples for smallpox, chickenpox and plague in the past,” said temple manager Anandbharathi K.

"We are worshiping the virus in the form of a goddess and praying to her every day to reduce the impacts of this disease,” he added. 

This is the recent example that we have seen in our society. I would like to conclude with the quote of Bertrand Russell, 

"Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom."

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