SHITALA is a non-Aryan Hindu goddess widely worshipped in India. As an incarnation of supreme Goddess PARVATI, Goddess Shitala is worshipped on the eighth day after the festival of Colours 'HOLI' on the occasion of Shitala Asthami.

It is believed that She cures poxes, sores, ghouls etc. diseases. It is also believed that when a demon named JVARASURA gave bacterial fever to all children, Goddess KATYAYANI came in the form of SHITALA who purify children's blood and destroy bacteria of fever in blood. I captured the various moods of the ritual ''DONDI'' performed on the day of Shitala Puja.

On an auspicious hot summer day, devotees especially women after taking a deep bath in the river 'AdiGanga' in Kalighat, a holy place in Kolkata, are paying their homage by performing this ritual. This ritual 'Dondi' means devotees wriggle on their belly to reach the temple during a very hot summer afternoon in the month of April.

They go through this struggle to purify their soul before reaching Goddes Shitala and they also sacrifice all kinds of comforts during this course to satisfy the Goddess. People believe that the Holy touch of the devotees will protect their children from all kinds of illness. So they lie down their children on the way of the devotees and let them cross the child. The family members of the devotees pour water on the street to clean the road and to prevent the devotees from getting burnt.

I was born in the ancient village Shantipur of Nadia district, West Bengal, India. I moved to"Calcutta" to pursue higher studies in 1991 and is living here since then. Being a school teacher I stayed in an outlying village of Bengal for 10 years and then was transferred to another school for which I am having to travel 6 hours daily in local trains, bike and ferries to reach which let me acquaintance with a diversity of personalities and lifestyles.

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