Phul Mata
Phul Mata is a Hindu goddess of disease, one of a group of seven sister goddesses with similar associations. Her sisters were Sitala Mata, Badi Mata, Pansahi Mata, Gusulia Mata, Kankar Mata, and Malbal.[1] As a group, they were well known in northern India, and were often represented by balls of clay.[2][3] Phul Mata was specifically associated with typhoid fever.[4]
Phul Mata is mentioned in epic and Puranic Hindu literature.[5] She may have originally been perceived as a shakti, a personification of divine power, but in Hinduism gradually became associated with evil intent and illness. She was said to inflict sickness on children under seven years of age.[6]
Sources
- ^ Commissioner, India Census (1902). Census of India, 1901.
- ^ Indian studies: past & present. 1970.
- ^ Hastings, James (1928). Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. Scribner.
- ^ Economic and Political Weekly. Sameeksha Trust. 1989.
- ^ Jordan, Michael (14 May 2014). Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9781438109855.
- ^ Stutley, Margaret (2006). Hindu Deities: A Mythological Dictionary with Illustrations. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. ISBN 9788121511643.
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