Tale of a Tub

  Religious Fervour And A Tale Of  a Tub

Hello Readers, in this Thinking activity Blog I am writing down here about my understanding of the Religious Fervour And A Tale Of a Tub Which is given by Kavisha ma'am, Department of English Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University.

We all know that August is the month of religious Festivals. And we celebrate that all festival very happily. Indians celebrate several important festivals. Like Pious month of Shravan and other festivals like Rakshabandhan, Janmashtami, Pateti(Parsi new year), Bakri-eid, And other festivals like Molakat- Gauri Vrat, Divaso, and some peoples also celebrate Ekadashi as a festival.

In our country India there are many religions and peoples follow them. Like Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, and Hinduism, Jainism. And also every religion has its own rituals, festivals, ethics, and their own philosophy of Life.

But we see 230 countries that have no religions. And also we see that India is number three in believing religions rank. Around us we saw that when child born we teach them what is god, and also we connect good and bad to god . Also people tell to child that you have not follow to god they will punish you in and you can not get મોક્ષ and god throw you in the hell.

Shitala Satam and Science:-This Festival calls for devotees to eat 'stale' but clean food. It has to be cold (room temperature) and must include sour elements. Sheetala Saptami festival. Just a day before Krishna Janmashtami, which is the birth of Lord Krishna, comes this festival.It is called by several names. In Gujarat, we call it the Sheetala Satam, Shitala Satam or Shitala Saptami. It falls on the seventh day of the Krishna Paksha of the Hindu calendar based on lunar phases.

Shiatala Mata the Goddess mentioned in Skanda Puranas. She is depicted riding a donkey and carrying a broom and wearing a garland of neem leaves to signify the importance of cleanliness and keeping your surroundings clean. Neem is a natural, tree product that has immense medicinal value. In the olden days when antibiotics had not yet been discovered, neem would be the go-to element in nature to carry out body detox or fight germs and infection. At the time of the peaking monsoon, the body can use all support it gets to stay calmer, healthier, and energetic. Women worship her to pray for the health and long life of their children. Sheetal is cold. The Sheetala Mata Festival incorporates 'Sheetal' (cold, calming) food so that the stomach is not aggravated and gets food that is easy to digest. 

Small pox virus:-

Shitla is a virus it's also called in scientific language Smallpox virus. it spread from one person to another. People who had smallpox had a fever and a distinctive, progressive skin rash. Most people with smallpox recover, but about 3 out of every 10 people with the disease die. Many smallpox survivors have permanent scars over large areas of their bodies, especially their faces. Some are left blind.

Thanks to the success of vaccination, smallpox was eradicated, and no cases of naturally occurring smallpox have happened since 1977. The last natural outbreak of smallpox in the United States occurred in 1949. In 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that smallpox was eradicated (wiped out). 

Smallpox Vaccine:- 

The smallpox vaccine protects people from smallpox by helping their bodies develop immunity to smallpox. The vaccine is made from a virus called vaccinia which is a poxvirus similar to smallpox, but less harmful. Edward Jenner found the vaccine and convince the whole world, that's why we called the pioneer of the smallpox vaccine.

In times of trouble, it's natural for people to look for succor from a higher power. When the smallpox vaccine was not invented and people lost their lives to the disease, they created a goddess to save them. Even today, when patients do not get expected results from treatments, they throng temples with desperate prayers on their lips.

 "In science credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not the man to whom the idea first occurs". 
                                      - Francis Galton

Apart from Shitla Mata, there is Hadkai Mata, who is said to cure rabies. This goddess sits on a dog and people bitten by dogs flock to her temple.

Not having non-veg stuff on festivals. Why? If you think your god gets offended by non-veg, why have it on other days? If you think this is just rubbish, then why not have non-veg during Navratri and Shravan month or Friday or whatever be the occasion.

Monsoon is the breeding season and in august month Shravan month comes. Non-veg and Shravan connect with scientific reason. At this time fishes and fishermen are not to go into the sea for catching fish.

The festival is celebrated with much vigor in the countryside, the months of July- August is the time when the monsoon is observed, the farmers spend their time in the water-filled paddy fields, and the strokes of rain work equally in favor of snakes too, the amphibian activity increases and the snakes reach the fields in search of food. The snakes are feared by the villagers and hence the traditional beliefs of pleasing to propitiate their wrath results in a populated celebration of this festival. The snakes are dug out of holes and kept in an earthen pot for worship during the fortnight of Shravan month. The villagers do not remove fangs as they consider it unholy to hurt the god.

Every year on the fifth day of the Hindu month of Shravan, the country celebrates the festival of Naag Panchami. Our Vedas and Shastras mention the need and ways to please the ‘sarpa’ or ‘naga’. Sheshnaag is the vehicle of Vishnu. The believers have their superstitious ways of worship which are definitely not pleasant for snakes. From feeding snakes with milk or grains, the bhakts would visit the snake holes and offer him milk by pouring it over the mound. Not many know that snakes do not drink milk like mammals! It might work as poison for the snake. The saffron-clothed sadhus visit our doorsteps and rightfully ask for money and milk for the snake, the miraculous wishes and blessings would flow as a reward. The hungry snake drinks the offered milk and we believe that the cobra drinks milk.

Thank you for visiting...