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.