Nupurnima Yadav

In this paper my primary intention is to grapple with the questions that emanate from my escalating interest with assortments of: What makes a god/goddess fearsome? How fear of a particular god/goddess regulates our faith and behaviour towards them? And finally, is there a causal relationship between faith and fear? The paramount focus in this paper will be on the Seetala goddess, commonly addressed as goddess of chicken and smallpox in North India. Previously, there have been predominantly ethno-medical studies on the goddesses which fail to address her social impact. In order to have a better understanding of the cult, certain field visits to the temple of Seetala Mata in Gurgaon district of Haryana were conducted.