Rajkot: It’s 225 years since Edward Jenner found the smallpox vaccine.
But even after rolling more than two centuries and a lot of progress made by medicine, people, blind by faith, still believed that smallpox and measles were caused by the curse of the goddess of Shitla’s eyes.
Dewi was worshiped and every year the people crushed the temple at Satam Shitla, which fell on August 29 this year, to worship Dewi.
A school in Bhavnagar, on the same day worshiping Jenner in an effort to spread the awareness of this disease and also pay respect for legendary doctors.
Jenner ‘Puja’ has been held at SMA Commerce, which is located in Ghogha Circle, since the last decade.
About 500 students participated in the annual event.
Officials and students installed a screen featuring Jenner’s work at the school entrance located on the way to the local Shitla eye temple.
Kiosk Display, apart from Jenner’s photo, a banner in Gujarati highlighted Jenner’s contribution to eradicating smallpox.
With hundreds of worshipers visiting the temple during Satam Shitla, the school hopes to catch as many eyeballs as possible in their efforts to eliminate superstitions that surround the disease.
The annual exhibition was also held at the Temple in Satam Shitla, which has been canceled this year because of Covid’s pandemic.
“We provide messages to people that there are no religious drugs for this disease.
People must adopt a scientific approach together with faith,” said Paresh Trivedi, said the school principal B Commerce High School.
“This is an effort to educate people and students especially about smallpox.
However, now we have also started a program awareness about environmental issues such as tree worship, land and water,” Trivedi said.
In the past, the mortality rate among children was high because of smallpox.
So, it is possible to find comfort people start worshiping Shitla’s eyes and also naming her illness after Him, “said Trivedi, who has made many informative videos about this disease and has posted it on social media.