Śītalā Devī (शीतला) » Like all other manifestations of the earth mother, Śītalā is an incarnation of Goddess Parvati. To deal with Mars related problems, Parvati manifests on ṣaṣṭi tithi (S6 tithi). For example, when the Sun is in Virgo or Pisces during navarātri, She is Skanda mātā, the mother of Kartikeya (God of Mars). She is worshipped as the cool goddess Śītalā on the ṣaṣṭi tithi of Jyeṣṭhā month (Sun in Taurus) and Maghā māsa (Sun in Capricorn). During Jyeṣṭhā māsa (Taurus) She removes all kinds of tumours, boils, pimples, fevers, poxes, sores, postules, ghosts, ghouls etc. Mars loses his bite in Taurus due to this Śītalā devi power in the sign.
This was the day when Parvati married Lord Śiva. It is the sign of the mighty bull – Nandi who carried Lord Śiva for the wedding. The great festival of Śītalā in Sambalpur, Odisha starts a day earlier on jyeṣṭhā pañcamī (S5 tithi) when Lord Śiva takes the gotra from Maharṣi Atri in order to marry. Therefore, technically, Lord Śiva is of Atri gotra after this date and his spouse Parvati, his children Kartikeya and Gaṇeśa – all belong to this gotra and wear the crescent Moon on their forehead. Śītalā Devi is the healing power of Durgā.
• On ṣaṣṭi She is the healer, the doctor who can bring the protection of Śiva for us.
• On aṣṭamī She is the protector from great evils working with Kṛṣṇa to drive the darkness away.
Mantra
om hrīṁ śrīṁ śītalāyai namaḥ
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