A neighbourhood shrine

A veggie seller prays at Chirag Dehli's temples, including the Sheetala Mata shrine, which attracts many visitors, especially during Navratri.

A veggie seller is dragging his cart along the lane. He stops on reaching a tiraha trisection, turns towards a corner temple, reverently joining his palm into a posture of prayer—see photo.

This is the shrine of a goddess who is said to ward off small pox (Mayank Austen Soofi)

The historic Chirag Dehli village is well-known for its centuries-old Sufi dargah of Hazrat Chirag Nasiruddin Roshan Dehlavi—the saint gives his name to the village. But the south Delhi neighbourhood harbours also other centres of pilgrimage. Just outside the village’s gateway rises the tall spire of Shiv Mandir. A short distance within the gateway is the aforementioned temple of “Maa Sheetala.”

This is the shrine of a goddess who is said to ward off small pox, as well as other fevered diseases, especially among the children. Indeed, the capital region has scores of temples to Sheetala Mata. There is one in Ghaziabad’s Indirapuram, in west Delhi’s Shyam Nagar, in Mehrauli’s Garwal Colony…. the most important shrine to Sheetala Mata is in the Millennium City of Gurugram.

Gurugram harbours multinational companies, and draws people from across the world. Back in time, when it were a village, it would still draw people from outside its rural boundaries—because of the Sheetala Mata Mandir. In an edition of Haryana District Gazetteers, the origins of this sacred destination are traced to the ancient age of Mahabharata.

Kirpai—later known as Mata Masani, and Sheetala Mata—was the wife of Dronacharya, the Guru after whom Gurugram gets its name. She lived in a village called Keshopur, in modern-day Delhi region, and was known to care for diseased children. The Guru lived in what is now Gurugram, and would routinely visit his wife in Keshopur. Once, he was absent for a long period; Kirpai was not able to live. Later, a temple was built in her honour in Keshopur. Three centuries ago, per the Gazetteer, she appeared in the dreams of “a fief holder of Gurgaon.” Expressing a wish to move to his village, the goddess asked him to build a shrine for her. This was promptly executed.

As for the goddess’s temple in Chirag Dehli, it came up a mere 25 years ago. Standing beside a government dispensary, the mandir is tiny; a worshipper must stand outside on the street to offer prayers. Whatever, the number of visitors has increased manifold these days due to the ongoing period of Navratri, says the flower-seller sitting beside the mandir.

Within, the goddess is seen dressed in a red chunni. A single marigold is placed at her feet; the flower is infusing the cloistered air with a heady scent.