शीतला घाट

Shitala Ghat in Varanasi is significant as it is named after the Hindu goddess Shitala Mata, who is believed to protect from diseases and illnesses. Shitala Mata is revered as a deity who can cure diseases like smallpox and chickenpox. Devotees visit the ghat to offer prayers to the goddess and seek her protection from ailments.

Shitala Ghat, along with other ghats like Manikarnika Ghat and Dashashwamedh Ghat, was reconstructed by the Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar in the mid-18th century. She played a significant role in restoring and rebuilding numerous ghats and temples across India, including those in Kashi.

While the ghat itself is believed to be a part of the larger Dashashwamedh Ghat, it was later named Shitala Ghat after the construction of the Shitala Devi temple, possibly in the 18th century. The temple is also believed to house idols of other deities like Lord Shiva and the Ganga-Yamuna. The idol is simple, often smeared with red and yellow powders — not regal, but deeply maternal. Mothers come here with children, offering turmeric, rice, and marigolds, whispering prayers not for wealth, but for wellness.

Shitala Ghat may not draw crowds like Dashashwamedh, but it draws those in need, those in grief, and those in quiet hope. And that makes it powerful. To pause here is to understand that healing is also worship, and that the divine doesn’t always roar — sometimes, she simply cools the forehead of the suffering.