Department of Religious Studies

Professor Rebecca Manring and an ever-expanding group of Middle Bengali scholars has been meeting every Friday morning via Zoom to work through one version of the Śītalā-maṅgala, a lengthy narrative poem telling the goddess Śītalā came to be worshipped. Why the interest in Śītalā, you may ask? She’s the smallpox goddess (see attached picture)! What better text to read during a pandemic than the tale of a goddess who takes her vengeance on those who try to ignore her, by sending her pox and viral companions to infect entire towns at a time.