Oladevi

Oladevi na di goddess wey dey in charge of cholera. People wey dey for Bengal region (wey include di place wey dem dey call Bangladesh today plus West Bengal wey dey inside India) and Marwar for Rajasthan dey worship her. Dem still sabi di goddess with other names like Olaichandi, Olabibi, and Bibima. For Bengal side, both Hindu people and Muslim people dey respect her and worship her.

For Rajasthan side, dem dey worship her as Maa Sheetala. Dem believe say she dey help her followers from sickness like cholera, jaundice, diarrhoea, and other stomach wahala. For Marwari tradition, dem no get one fixed way to draw her picture, but e still be like di way dem dey show Sheetala for picture.

For Bengal, Oladevi get strong place for inside di culture wey different people from different religion and tradition dey respect and follow.

Who she be

People believe say Oladevi na di wife of Mayasura, wey be one king for old tory dem dey call mythology. Mayasura na strong builder and leader for some spirit people dem dey call Asuras, Danavas and Daityas. People wey dey worship Oladevi believe say she dey protect dem from cholera disease. Long time ago, cholera dey worry plenty community for Bengal, so dem come believe say Oladevi fit protect dem from di sickness.

For Bengali language, dem even get name for cholera wey come from Oladevi name — ola-otha or ola-utha. For dis language, "Ola" mean "dey go down" and "utha" mean "dey come up", to describe how cholera dey cause plenty toilet (diarrhoea) and vomiting.

For Hindu people, dem believe say Oladevi na different face of Goddess Parvati. Dem dey draw her as woman wey get deep yellow skin, wear blue cloth (sari), and wear plenty jewelry. Dem dey draw her with her hand stretch out, and she dey sit down with one pikin for her lap.

For di type of Hindu worship wey dey Bengal, dem dey call her Olabibi or Bibima. One old song wey dem call Olabibi Gan dey talk her story. Di song talk how one virgin princess born one pikin, but di pikin disappear like magic. Later, di pikin reappear as goddess wey cure di king minister pikin and even di king own pikin too. Dem dey draw her with cap, scarf, and plenty jewelry. For her leg, she dey wear nagra shoe and sometimes even socks. For one of her hand, she dey hold magic stick wey fit drive sickness comot from her followers body.

How she take affect society

Oladevi no be just ordinary goddess — she get big place for Bengal people culture, both Hindu and Muslim. Some experts dey believe say di way dem see Oladevi na like mixture of Mother Divine (big mother goddess) and Krishna, wey be one of di main gods for Hindu religion.

Di worship of Oladevi as Goddess of Cholera really show face for 19th century, when cholera sickness begin spread for di whole Indian area. People from different tribe, caste, and religion dey follow her worship that time because di sickness no dey look anybody face.

But nowadays, di worship no too strong like before because medicine and clean environment don make cholera no dey spread anyhow again.