Ramanavami celebrates the birth of Shri Rama or Ramachandra. Ram is considered to be a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu, the preserver. Lord Vishnu took the seventh avtaar named Ram who killed Ravan, the evil king, on the 9th day of the Hindu month of Chaitra, hence the day is celebrated as Ram Navmi. In some parts of India, it is a nine-day festival, coinciding with the Vasanta Navaratri.

The Gangaur Festival is the most important local festival of Rajasthan and is observed throughout the state with great fervour and devotion by womenfolk who worship Gauri, the consort of Lord Shiva.
Gan is a synonym for Shiva and Gaur, which stands for Gauri or Parvati who symbolises ’saubhagya’ (marital bliss). Gauri is the embodiment of perfection and conjugal love, which is why the unmarried women worship her for being blessed with good husbands, while married women do so for the welfare, health and long life of their spouses and a happy married and long life of their life.
The womenfolk of Rajasthan worship Gauri with all the means of devotion. The married women worship Gauri for the well-being of their husband, while the unmarried girls worship the goddess to get the husband of their choice. The festival begins with the custom of gathering ashes from the Holi Fire and burying the seeds of barley in it. After it, the seeds are watered everyday awaiting the germination.
During the last days of the festival, the celebration reaches to its height. On the final day, lively images of Gauri are taken out in procession escorted by traditionally dressed camels, bullock carts, horses and elephants. Songs are sung about the departure of Gauri to her husband’s home. The procession is wrapped up with the breaking of pots and throwing the trash into a tank or pond. This traditional festival of Gangor is celebrated in Jaipur from ages and forms a special attraction for any visitor.

Festival Process :This fetival aur vrat starts next day of Holi.Woman observe a ten days vrat (a vrat is a penance undertaken as a ritual occasion and calls for fasting, prayer often for a particular boon, and ritual worship according to set rules – at such times stories appropriate to the religious occasion, with the deity concerned appearing as a figure in the tale, are told by an older woman to a group of women) in the honour of Dasha Maa, and also in the honour of other folk deities: Nagbai Maa and Momai Maa. A small statue is made of these mother goddesses, to which chandalo (sandalwood paste and kanku), and puja is offered daily. The image is immersed on the tenth day. During this period women pray for the improvement of their dasha or condition, perhaps their economic well being or health. They wear a thread with ten knots, and each day one knot is united.

dasha mata

The worshipper lives on one meal a day and the food is made of wheat. Dasama stories are told in the morning, and in the evening women dance the garba. Men do not participate in any of this.

During the ten days vrat though the mata’s power is still present in the songs of garba, yet it is dwelt upon love and admiration rather than fear. The goddess is given familiar human attributes. She dresses, plays and moves as the women themselves do. The only difference is – she does it alone and in complete freedom. She is sufficiently like them in her joyful play and yet quite different in her single status.

Goddess Durga is also called Mahamaya and the corruption of Mahamaya is Momai. Momai is also known as Ashapura and Dasha Maa. The union of the folk goddess with main stream Brahmanism cult probably occurred during the medieval time through Rajput intervention. An interesting story recounts the probable synthesis.
Katha/Story : Once upon a time Vijay Singh was a king of a kingdom in Gujarat. Queen Rupmati, a beautiful, kind hearted and devotional woman was his wife. Both had two sons and all of them lived peacefully. The king had a palace called Jal Mahal, which was located on the outskirt of his capital. One evening the queen along with her attendants had gone to Jal Mahal for a visit. From the window, the queen however saw a devotional sight – a group of village women engaged in a vrat near the village pond. They were engaged in worshiping a deity called Dasha Maa. The queen was surprised because she had never seen such a ritual though she would worship every day in a different manner. She sent one of her attendants (dasi) to enquire what kind of ritual the village women were performing.

The dasi was told about the sanctity and power of Dasha Maa and the ritual and sacrifices associated with the vrat. After listening to the village women the dasi came back and explained to the queen. The queen was convinced and incidentally it was the first day of the vrat. The queen also followed the path of the village women by observing the vrat.

While the queen was busy in the vrat the king entered and got angry seeing the idol of the mother goddess Dasha Maa. He asked the queen to stop doing the vrat because Dasha Maa was the deity of poor people. Being a royal woman she need not had to be involved with such vrats. By saying this king offended the goddess.

dasha maa

Because of this attitude of the king Dasha Maa got angry and devastated his kingdom. The king and his family became very poor. One day while he was passing through a road he came across a fruit orchard. However, when he entered all the fruits became dry. He and his family proceeded further and came across a step well. But he lost two of his sons in the well. From there he went to his sister’s place and offered sukhdies (a kind of dry sweet) to her. But the sukhdies turned into stones. Like these the King was infested with all kind of problems. They were also sent the jail by a neighbouring king.

The king then realized that he had offended Dasha Maa. In the jail both started the vrat and were released by the rival king. They also got back all their glory.

The above story is an example of Rajput filtaration into the domain of socially oppressed class. Initially they tried to maintain their supremacy yet in course of time they had to surrender to the belief of the mass to acquire the political legitimation. This probably led to the synthesis of folk and Aryan cults during the historic time and has continued today as a cult of mass.

Sheetala Mata Mandir is found at Gurugaon village, a suburb of Gurgaon (Guru Dronacharya’s birth place), in the state of Haryana. The presiding deity of this temple is Mata Sheetala Devi, which is also referred to as Shakti Peeth.Mata Sheetala Devi is also called as Bhagat Lalita Maa and Masani Maa. In fact the word Sheetala refers to the disease smallpox. And it is believed that if this deity is invoked with faith, she dispels the disease. Situated near a pond, this temple witnesses hordes of pilgrims throughout the year, except during the month of Shravana (July-August). During the month of Chaitra (March-April), this place resembles like Kumbh-Mela.A section of the visitors come for the mundan ceremony ( the first hair cutting ceremony) of their children and offer the crop of hair at the altar of goddess. Among other visitors married couples also come to invoke the blessings of the goddess for a happy married life.

sheetala mata temple guargan haryana

About Temple – More than three centuries ago two brothers, Padarath and Singha lived in the village of Gurgaon. They were fief holders and owned thousands of acres of land. Singha was a calm, good-natured person who spend most of his time in singing Bhajans. Impressed by Singha’s devotion, Sheetala Devi appeared in his dream and granted him a boon. The boon was that, Singha’s mere touch would free a person from all pains. Singha thus left his luxurious abode and started meditating near the pond. He also made a crude temple like structure and started worshipping the Devi there. One day it seems, while collecting mud from the pond, Singha found the idol of the Devi and consecrated it in the crude structure. This structure later on became the Sheetala Devi temple.

According to another legend, a poor carpenter living in Farukh Nagar had a beautiful daughter of marriageable age. On hearing about her beauty, the Mughal ruler expressed his desire to get married to the girl. The carpenter resented giving away her daughter to a person from a different religion and so appealed to King Surajmal of Bharatpur. The matter being outside his jurisdiction, the king refused to interfere. The disappointed carpenter met Prince Bharatpur, son of King Surajmal while returning home who tried to talk it out with his father but to no avail.Consequently, the prince revolted against his father. On his way to attack Delhi, he passed through Gurgaon and he pledged to the Shri  Mata Sheetla Devi that if he returned victorious, he would build a proper temple. The prince won and upon his return, he built the temple.

There is another version of the same temple. It is said that when prince of Bharatpur was proceeding towards , he and his army rested at Ballabhgarh. But the horses refused to move further from here. The court astrologer was summoned to explain the strange behaviour of the horses, whereupon it was found that since obeisance was not paid the goddess after entering Gurgaon on their way, this had angered her. Thus an elaborate worship of the goddess was arranged and the horses started moving. The prince pledged that he would build a temple on his victorious return

In Hinduism, Goddess Shitala, or Sheetala Mata, is considered an aspect of Shakti. Popularly she is the Hindu goddess of small pox in North India and is known to spread the dreaded disease and cure it. In rural India, she is also considered as an incarnation of Goddess Parvati and Durga, which are two forms of Shakti. Goddess Shitala is popular as Mariamman in Tamil Nadu. She is undoubtedly one of the most popular rural deities and her origin can be traced to the days of Nature Worship.

Legend has it that Goddess Shitala wears a red-colored dress and rides around the villages in North India on a donkey (ass) and inflicting people with the dreaded pox – small pox, chicken pox etc. Symbolically, she represents Nature’s power of generating viruses causing disease and Nature’s healing power and is of tribal origin. She is depicted having four hands. In her four hands she carries a silver broom, winnow fan, small bowl and a pitcher with Gangajal, holy water from River Ganga. Occasionally, she is depicted with two hands carrying a broom and pitcher. Symbolically, Goddess Sheetala idol also emphasizes the need for cleanliness.

According to Puranas, Shitala, the cooling one, was created by Lord Brahma. She was promised by Brahma that she will be worshipped as a Goddess on earth but she should carry the seeds of lentils. In folktales in North India, the lentil is ‘Urad dal.’ She then asked for a companion and she was directed to Lord Shiva, who blessed her and created Jvara Asura (the fever demon). It is said that he was created from the sweat of Lord Shiva.

Shitala and Jvara Asura remained in Devaloka along with other gods and goddess. They used a donkey to transport the lentils to wherever they went. But the lentil seeds one day turned into smallpox germs and start to spread the disease among gods and goddesses. Finally, fed up with Goddess Shitala, gods asked her to go and settle in heaven where she will be worshipped. Shitala and Jvara Asura came down to earth and started hunting for a place to stay.

They went to the court of King Birat, an ardent devotee of Shiva. He agreed to worship her and give a place in his kingdom but she will not get the respect given to Shiva. An angry Shitala demanded supremacy over all other gods and when King Birat did not budge. She spread different kinds of pox on the land and finally, the King had to agree to her wishes. Soon the disease and all its after effects were miraculously cured.

The most important festival dedicated to her takes place in Chaitra month, the Ashtami day after Purnima (full moon) in the month is observed as Sheetala Ashtami. There are famous temples dedicated to Shitala Devi in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.