Talk:The Avatāra of Devī Annapūrṇā – Dokka Sitamma
By Vishal Agarwal
The holy city of Vārāṇasī is said to be blessed by Annapūrṇā Devī, a manifestation of Devī Pārvatī who gives food to humanity. It is believed that due to Her blessing, no one will ever go hungry in Vārāṇasī. In the temple of Annapūrṇā Devī in that city, there is also a picture of Dokka Sitamma, a philanthropic widow who lived barely 100 years ago.
Dokka Sitamma was widowed at a young age, even before she and her husband had any children. She lived all alone in her hut, located in a fertile district in the coastal area of the state of Āndhra Pradesh in India. She had inherited several acres of fertile land on which were grown crops of various kinds.
Every day, she would cook a lot of food and send out a call for whosoever wanted to join her for food. She was sensitive enough to understand that the poor and hungry people are sometimes too embarrassed to beg for food. But when she invited all to her door, they felt welcomed to arrive and leave after filling their stomachs. She served food to everyone who was hungry, without regard to whether they were rich or poor, of high or of a low social status, man or woman. This went on for several decades. Meanwhile, her greedy neighbors and relatives gradually robbed her of the land that she owned. Her wealth went on decreasing day by day. But still, she lovingly continued to call people over for food every day.
So lovingly she fed everyone that those who benefited from her generosity started narrating miraculous stories about her. Someone reported that a person who ate from her hands was cured of some disease. Another person said that he bore enmity towards his family member, but after eating her food, the feelings of enmity and hatred disappeared from his mind. Sitamma continued to feed the poor till she became very old, and very poor. She decided that she would now use her remaining money to travel to Vārāṇasī, more than 1000 miles away, for pilgrimage. She also hoped to die in that city, a dream for all.
She hired a cart with a driver and bullocks and set out for Vārāṇasī. A few miles from her home however, when the cart stopped for the night, she heard a family comprising of a couple and their hungry children at the resthouse. The man was saying to his children, “I know you have not eaten today. But I have no money. Let us wait till tomorrow. We will reach Sitamma’s home and she will surely have some food to share.” The children were really hungry and started crying.
Sitamma immediately woke up the driver and commanded him to rush the cart back to her house. The driver protested, but to no avail! The following day, the family arrived, and Sitamma had food ready for them. She had abandoned her trip to Vārāṇasī, realizing that there were people who needed her. But there was something greater that she had sacrificed – her self-respect. She had used up all her money for the trip and had nothing left to buy food. To save the hungry family of the embarrassment of begging, she had gone to her neighbor’s home and begged for some food for them!
When Sitamma passed away in her hut, it is said that a bolt of lightning arose through the roof of her hut, and disappeared in the skies. In the Hindu tradition, this is treated as a sign that the person who had died was a great soul. Sitamma surely was one, and a jewel of Hindu society. Today, she is considered an Avatāra of Devī Annapūrṇā and her picture is worshipped in Her shrine in Vārāṇasī.