Sheetala Devi Mandir.

The Hindu people of Lucknow have great faith in the worship of goddesses. Here Chandrika Devi near Bakshi pond, Badi Kali and Chhoti Kali located at Chowk, Sandohan Devi from Chowpatiya, Masani Devi located at Sahadatganj and Shitala Mata temples located at Mehndi Ganj have got great recognition in Lucknow. This temple is very ancient and all these goddesses together are called Pancho Devi i.e. five goddesses.
Of these, the temple of Shitala Mata is located in Mehdiganj locality of Lucknow. If history is to be believed, religious fanatic Muslim invaders had broken the idol of the goddess located in this temple. Later the Banjaras restored the idol here. Therefore, the idol of the Goddess is present here in the form of a body and is worshipped. Fairs are being organized on the occasion of Teej and festivals in almost all the areas of the state. Lucknow is also not untouched by this. Three and a half fairs of Lucknow are very famous. The first fair among them is the Katiki fair which is held for a month on the banks of Gomti near Aliganj bridge in the month of Kartik.
‘Aathon Ka Mela’ has great recognition:
Secondly, after Holi, there is a fair of eight held at the temple of Shitala Mata for eight days. Where a huge crowd has been gathering due to the old style. King Tikaitarai had come here during his time. He saw that many people had come to the fair. He saw that there was a severe shortage of water in the fair and people were very upset due to this. Seeing the plight of the people, he built two permanent ponds near the temple which became famous as the Big and Small Pond of Tikaitarai. Along with this, he also built the Ramjanaki temple of his beloved Lord Ram.
The third fair held on the occasion of Eid is called Turr Mela. A fair used to last for half a day. In which a lot of vulgar and sailor abuses were recited in the form of songs. Now this fair has stopped.
Earlier, after Holi, smallpox used to occur a lot and it was considered to be the wrath of the Goddess. Cold food prepared a day before was offered to Sheetala Mata. Which is called “Basodha”. So that mother’s anger remains calm and no one in the house gets smallpox. Even if there was smallpox in someone’s house, people would offer prasad to the goddess and pray for the patient to be cured. This trend continues till now.
There has been a tradition among Hindus that they perform the head shaving ceremony of their children in goddess temples or on the banks of rivers like Ganga because rivers are also considered to be the form of goddess. Therefore, Mother Sita is the mother most associated with the public in public life. He is worshiped by Rajputs, Bharsivas and Pratiharas. The families of Kashmiri Brahmins of Lucknow also consider Sheetala Mata as their worshipable goddess.Apart from the Ashtami of Holi, during both the Navratri also a crowd of devotees gather at Shitala Mata Temple and people get their children tonsured. On this occasion, women sing goddess songs: – Mother, how should I offer cow’s milk, the calf has given birth to a shoe.
How should I offer the marigold flower to my mother, the bhanvare has added it.
Oh Mori Devi Mother, Oh Mori Sheetala Mother.