Phul Mata

{{Short description|Hindu deity}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

Phul Mata is a Hindu goddess of disease, one of a group of seven sister goddesses with similar associations. Her sisters were Sitala Mata, Chamariya mata, Durga Kali, Maha Kali, Bhadra kali and Kalika Bhavani.{{Cite book |last1=Reddy |first1=Prof Katta Narasimha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0rCqEAAAQBAJ&dq=Chamariya+as+one+of+the+seven+sisters+of+Sitala&pg=PA217 |title=Kalyana Mitra: Volume 10 |last2=Reddy |first2=Prof E. Siva Nagi |last3=Naik |first3=Prof K. Krishna |date=2023-01-31 |publisher=Blue Rose Publishers |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Ferrari |first=Fabrizio M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zH0eBQAAQBAJ&dq=Chamariya+as+one+of+the+seven+sisters+of+Sitala&pg=PT63 |title=Religion, Devotion and Medicine in North India: The Healing Power of Sitala |date=2014-11-20 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4725-9872-1 |language=en}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bMkfAQAAIAAJ&dq=Chamariya+as+one+of+the+seven+sisters+of+Sitala&pg=PA747 |title=Zeitschrift für Ethnologie |date=1905 |language=de}} As a group, they were well known in northern India, and were often represented by balls of clay.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jAq2AAAAIAAJ&q=%22phulmata%22+-wikipedia|title=Indian studies: past & present|date=1970|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RehXAAAAYAAJ&q=%22phulmata%22+-wikipedia|title=Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics|last=Hastings|first=James|date=1928|publisher=Scribner|language=en}} Phul Mata was specifically associated with typhoid fever.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W8YXAQAAMAAJ&q=%22phul+mata%22+-wikipedia|title=Economic and Political Weekly|date=1989|publisher=Sameeksha Trust|language=en}}

Phul Mata is mentioned in epic and Puranic Hindu literature.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aqDC5bwx4_wC&dq=%22phul+mata%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA247|title=Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses|last=Jordan|first=Michael|date=2014-05-14|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=9781438109855|language=en}} She may have originally been perceived as a shakti, a personification of divine power, but in Hinduism gradually became associated with evil intent and illness. She was said to inflict sickness on children under seven years of age.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z1MvAAAAYAAJ&q=%22phul+mata%22+-wikipedia|title=Hindu Deities: A Mythological Dictionary with Illustrations|last=Stutley|first=Margaret|date=2006|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers|isbn=9788121511643|language=en}}