"In central Punjab, Sitala Devi or the Cool One, the goddess of pustular diseases, was widely worshipped by Sikhs.* She was the eldest of seven sisters, a collectivity of disease goddesses, each of whom was responsible for inflicting and curing a particular disease. Since it was her wrath which caused the dreaded smallpox epidemic, devotees exercised considerable caution to contain her anger. The shrines of Sitala, often called than, which were found in almost every town and village, were frequented only by women and children, as men were not supposed to set foot within them. Represented bya clay image of a naked female riding on a donkey, she was also thought to dwell in the kikkar (Acacia arabica) tree.** It was not uncommon for women to water the roots of the tree in order to cool those suffering from the disease. The principal months during which Sitala was worshipped were April and May, possibly because the smallpox epidemic often erupted during the dry heat of the summer months.’” But devotees could start the worship cycle as early as spring and continue until late summer. The exact choice of months and days of worship varied greatly from region to region and depended on local customary practices. Once the epidemic struck,a series of rituals was undertaken to appease the goddess. Ibbetson, the premier ethnographer of Punjab, recorded these therapeutic rituals in the late nineteenth century: Sitala rides upon a donkey, and grain is given to the donkey and to his master, the potterat the shrine, after having been waved over the head of the child. Fowls, pigs, goats and coconuts are offered, black dogs are fed, and white cocks are waved and let loose. An adult who has recovered from small-pox, shouldlet a pig loose to Sitala, or he will again be attacked. During an attack no offerings are made; and if the epidemic has once seized upon village all worship is discontinued till the disease disappears.”"