Sheetla Mata Temple (; hi, श्री शीतला माता मंदिर , pa, ਸ਼ੀਤਲਾ ਮਾਤਾ ਮੰਦਰ) is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hin ...

dedicated to the goddess

Shitala Sheetala (, IAST: ) , also spelled as Shitala and Seetla, is a Hindu goddess venerated primarily in North India. She is regarded to be an incarnation of the goddess Parvati. She is believed to cure poxes, sores, ghouls, pustules, and diseases, ...

(Sheetla), wife of Guru Dronacharya who was the teacher of the

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledge ...

and

Kauravas ''Kaurava'' is a Sanskrit term which refers to descendants of Kuru, a legendary king of India who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the epic ''Mahabharata''. Usually, the term is used for the 100 sons of King Dhritarashtra and his w ...

according to an Indian epic

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...

. The temple is located on Sheetla Mata Road in

Gurugram Gurgaon (pronunciation: �ʊɽɡãːw, officially named Gurugram (pronunciation: �ʊɾʊɡɾaːm, is a city located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest of the nationa ...

(''earlier known as Gurgaon'') city of Gurugram district in the state of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. The shrine is very famous and is visited by large number of people during

Navaratri Navaratri is an annual Hindu festival observed in the honour of the goddess Durga. It spans over nine nights (and ten days), first in the month of Chaitra (March/April of the Gregorian calendar), and again in the month of Sharada. It is o ...

and other festivals.

History

The Sheetla Mata temple is dedicated to the wife of Guru Dronacharya,

Kripi The ''Mahabharata'' is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India; it was composed by the sage Vyasa. The most important characters of ''Mahabharata'' can be said to include: Krishna; the Pandavas Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakul ...

(Kirpai), also called Lalitha. Kirpai, also called Lalita and later Mata Sheetla, used to live in Keshopur village located in the nearby Union Territory of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. Dronacharya her husband used to visit her daily at Keshopur from his Gurugram ashram. She devoted herself to look after the sick children, specially those suffering from the smallpox. People called her Mata (Mother) out of affection and respect. After her death a temple was built in her honour by the villagers and she began to be remembered as Mata Sitla or Mata Masani, i.e. 'the goddess of smallpox'. It is said that more than three centuries ago, Masani Mother appeared in a dream to Chaudhri Singh Ram alias Singha, a Jat of village Gurugram. She expressed her desire to leave Keshopur and come to Gurugram. She made him build a place for her. Towards the south of Gurugram village lies

Gurugram Bhim Kund Gurugram Bhim Kund, also known as Pinchokhda Jhod, is a 10-acre wetland in Bhim Nagar locality of Gurgaon city of Gurugram district in the state of Haryana in India. It lies between sector 4, 6 and 8 about 3 km from Rajiv Chowk. Folklor ...

near the temple of Dronacharya. Sheetla mata temple lies to the north of Gurugram village. The legend goes that even after Singha had brought and installed the goddess Masani, after her own heart's desire, at village Gurugram, the residents of Keshopur continued to dispute the claims of Gurugram folks. This controversy was put at rest during the time of

Begum Samru Joanna Nobilis Sombre (– 27 January 1836), popularly known as Begum Samru (née Farzana Zeb un-Nissa),. a convert Catholic Christian started her career as a nautch (dancing) girl in 18th century India, and eventually became the ruler of Sard ...

, the Governor of Jharsa under the Mughals. Her child who had contracted smallpox was cured after being consecrated in the prescribed manner before the goddess Masani at Gurugram. It was then finally established that the goddess had begun to live at village Gurugram. The current temple was built in the 18th century by the Hindu Jat king

Jawahar Singh Jawahar Singh () ( hi, महाराजा जवाहर सिंह) was a Jat ruler of the Bharatpur State. He succeeded to the throne when his father Suraj Mal died in 1763. Early life During Ahmed Shah Abdali's invasion of India in 1 ...

of Bharatpur, in memory of his victory over the Mughals, for which he had invoked the blessings of Sheetla Mata.About Sheetla Mata mandir

Reaching to the shrine in Gurugram

Gurugram is one of the districts in the state of

which is located in the Northern part of

. The district is located southwest of the national capital

and is part of the

national capital region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

. The city of Gurugram is well connected by road, metro, rail and air transport. Public transport is available to the Shrine but direct connectivity is not available with some modes of transport.

By Road

Nearest proximity from

National Highway National highway or National Highway may refer to: * National Highways (England) * National Highway (Australia) * List of National Roads in Belgium * Brunei National Roads System * National Highway System (Canada) * Trans ...

8 is around 6 km. Intercity buses, private cabs and autos ply to the shrine within the city.

By Rail

Delhi Metro The nearest railway station is Huda City Metro Station which is 6.6 km from the shrine. Earlier there was no direct connectivity of public transport available to the shrine from the metro station. Indian Railways The nearest railway station is Gurugram Railway Station which is 2.7 km from the shrine. There is a direct connectivity by auto rickshaw available to the shrine from the railway station at regular intervals. Iffco Chowk metro station is nearby.

By Air

The nearest airport is Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) at

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

, which is about 17 km from Sheetla Mata Mandir,

. Intercity buses and private cabs ply to the shrine from the airport but there is no direct connectivity.

Other attractions nearby

Gurugram Bhim Kund

(Hindi: ''गुरुग्राम भीम कुंड''), also known as ''Pinchokhda Jhod'' (Hindi: ''पिंचोखड़ा जोहड़''), is a 10-acre wetland in Bhim Nagar locality of

city of Gurugram district in the state of

. It lies between sector 4, 6 and 8 about 3 km from Rajiv Chowk, Gurugram.

Eklavya temple

There is an

Eklavya temple The Ekalavya temple ( hi, एकलव्य मंदिर) is the only Hindu temple in the world dedicated to Ekalavya of the Mahabharata. It is located in the Khandsa village of Gurugram, Haryana, India. It is built atop the spot where E ...

(Hindi: एकलव्य मंदिर) temple in honor of

fame

Eklavya Ekalavya (Sanskrit: एकलव्य, ''ékalavya'') is a character from the Indian epic Mahābhārata. He was a young prince of the Nishadas, a confederation of forest and hill tribes in ancient India. Ekalavya is called as one of the forem ...

in Khandsa village in Sector 37 of

city in

state of

. As per folklore, this is the only temple of Eklavya and it is the place where Eklavya cut his thumb and offered to Guru

Drona Droṇa ( sa, द्रोण, Droṇa), also referred to as Dronacharya ( sa, द्रोणाचार्य, Droṇācārya), is a major character of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he serves as the royal preceptor of the Kaur ...

. Locals want the government to develop a tourism circuit in honour of

and

. Prachin Sheetla mata mandir (shed mata) situated at hill area of village nathupur Delhi Gurgaon border are also known as Sheetla mata(Shed mata half scrupter of mata Sheetla is here from many decades. Mandir I very famous for curing the diseases of children like chicken pox etc
Locals want tourist circuit developed for the Guru - April 2016
/ref>
/ref>Gurgaon: From village of Guru Dronacharya to Millennium City
/ref>

References

{{Gurgaon district topics Hindu temples in Haryana Villages in Gurgaon district Tourist attractions in Haryana