🥣 Sheetla Ashtami (Basoda) 2027
Chaitra Krishna Ashtami — eight days after Holi; cool food cooked a day earlier is offered to Sheetla Mata and the hearth stays unlit; the mothers' vrat protecting children from pox and fever.
Sheetla Ashtami is observed on the Ashtami of the Krishna Paksha of Chaitra month — eight days after the Holi of colours (in many regions on the Saptami — Sheetla Saptami). It is called Basoda because on this day 'basi' (stale — cooked a day earlier, cold) food is eaten and offered — the hearth is not lit at home that day.
Sheetla Mata is the goddess of smallpox, measles, boils and seasonal fevers; at the start of summer mothers keep this vrat for the protection of their children — cool food offered at the Sheetla temple/water place, puja with cold water, turmeric and mehndi. Below are this year's date, puja muhurat, vidhi, samagri, katha, the basi kitchen and regional customs.
Significance — why this vrat
'Sheetla' = she who cools — riding a donkey, with a broom (cleanliness), a winnowing fan (air), neem leaves (medicine) and a pot (cool water): the whole form signals protection from the diseases of summer — cleanliness, coolness, neem. Hence neem, cold water and basi (fireless) food in the puja.
Basoda: all food is cooked a day earlier (on Saptami) and kept; on Ashtami the hearth/fire is worshipped but not lit — it is also an Ayurvedic custom of giving the body cool food for one day at the change of season (after which stale food is stopped).
Strongest in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana; in Bengal Sheetla puja falls on other dates. It is the vrat of the women — especially mothers — of the house; a new bride's first Basoda comes from her parents' home.
Puja vidhi (step by step)
This is the household vidhi — cooking on Saptami evening, Sheetla puja and basi bhog at dawn on Ashtami, the hearth off all day.
- Saptami (the day before) evening: cook everything — sweet rice (jaggery/sugar), poori, gulgule/malpua, besan sabzi, curd, rabdi, kadhi, pakodi, ingredients for cold sherbet; clean the kitchen and let the hearth cool; worship the hearth at night (roli, rice, flowers).
- At dawn on Ashtami (before sunrise/Brahma Muhurat — time above) bathe in cold water; clean the house without lighting the hearth; sankalp — 'I keep the Sheetla Ashtami vrat for the health and protection of my children/family.'
- On a thali the basi food (a little of everything), a lota of cold water, turmeric-mehndi, roli, rice, flowers, a neem twig, a winnowing fan/broom (symbolic), a lamp (not lit — in many places no lamp at all); the puja at the neighbourhood Sheetla temple or a water place (near a well, pond or tap) or at the home puja place.
- For Sheetla Mata (picture/stone/temple): cold water, turmeric-mehndi (hand prints), roli-rice, flowers, neem leaves; offer the basi bhog; 'Om Hreem Shreem Sheetalayai Namah' / the Sheetla Stotra ('Vande'ham Sheetalam Devim rasabhastham digambaram'); listen to the Sheetla Mata katha (below).
- With the puja water and turmeric-mehndi make hand prints on the main door and a tilak on the children's foreheads — protection from the evil eye and disease; sprinkle the cool puja water in the house.
- Only basi food all day — the children first, then the elders; no hearth or gas (not even tea — many homes take cold milk/sherbet).
- Charity: cool food, sweet rice, cloth — to the needy/a temple; roti and chana to a donkey (Sheetla's mount) where possible; donation of a broom and winnowing fan too.
- Next day (Navami) light the hearth, first a hot bhog (halwa) for Sheetla Mata, then a normal meal — Basoda ends; no stale food after this.
Puja samagri checklist
Everything prepared a day earlier — no fire on the puja day.
- Basi bhog: sweet rice (jaggery rice/oliya), poori, gulgule/malpua, kadhi-pakodi, besan sabzi, curd, rabdi, chana dal — cooked on Saptami
- A lota of cold water (copper/clay), Gangajal
- Turmeric, mehndi (paste — hand prints), roli, raw rice, flowers
- Neem twig/leaves, a small winnowing fan and broom (symbol/charity)
- Picture/idol of Sheetla Mata (or the stone at the temple/water place), chunari
- Cold sherbet/milk, thandai (nothing hot that day)
- Charity: cloth, food, broom and winnowing fan; roti-chana for donkey and cow
- Sheetla Stotra/katha book
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Open panchang →Vrat katha (the story)
In a village every home kept Basoda, but one old woman lit her hearth and cooked hot food. Sheetla Mata came to the village in the form of an old woman — the old woman's house caught fire and her children burnt with fever and pox. Weeping, she went to other homes — there was cool food and cold water there; the Mother said, 'I am Sheetla, I need coolness; you lit a fire, so your house burnt.'
The old woman begged forgiveness and cooled the Mother with cold water and basi food (curd and sweet rice); the Mother was pleased, the children recovered, the home was restored. Since then the custom of not lighting the hearth and offering cool food on Chaitra Krishna Ashtami — Basoda; and the lesson — in the hot season, coolness and cleanliness keep disease away.
In the Skanda Purana Sheetla Mata is the daughter of Brahma and the one who subdued Jwarasura (the demon of fever) — seated on a donkey, holding broom, fan, pot and neem, she calms fever and pox; hence the 'Sheetla Saptami/Ashtami' vrat is the vrat for children's protection.
Basoda — a cool kitchen cooked a day before
Cook everything on Saptami evening and keep it covered; on Ashtami bhog and meals without reheating. Sweet rice (oliya) and gulgule are the mark of the day; a full 'thanda khana' thali in Rajasthan.
- Sweet rice/oliya: rice cooked in jaggery water (or sugar), ghee-cardamom-dry fruits; served cold — Sheetla's main bhog
- Gulgule (fried balls of flour, jaggery and fennel), malpua, poori, besan sabzi/gatte, kadhi-pakodi, curd, rabdi, chana dal
- Rajasthan: cold 'basi-oda' — curd rice, bajra roti with jaggery, rabdi, panchkuta; Gujarat: cold poori-shaak, dhebra
- Uttar Pradesh-Haryana: gulgule, sweet rice, poori-kadhi, curd with boora; Madhya Pradesh: cold poha-curd, sweet roti
- Next day: hot halwa first for the Mother, then the family — the end of Basoda
Regional customs
Basoda is a custom of north-west India; in Bengal and the south Sheetla/Mariamman is worshipped differently.
A custom, tale, song or dish heard from your grandmother — 2-4 lines; after reading we add it on this page with your region's name (the phone is never shown — only to ask you back).
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✅ Do
- Cook all the food on Saptami — no hearth/gas on Ashtami
- Puja at dawn with cold water; neem and turmeric-mehndi without fail
- Basi bhog first to the Mother, then the children, then the elders
- Hand prints on the door, tilak for the children — a symbol of protection
- Cleanliness of home, kitchen and surroundings — the real message of Sheetla; children's vaccinations (pox-measles) on time
❌ Don't
- No fire on Ashtami — not even hot tea or milk (take them cold)
- Basi food can spoil in very hot weather — keep it covered in a cool place; check the curd and rabdi in the morning; nothing doubtful to children or elders
- Stop stale food after this day — fresh all summer
- Do not treat the vrat as a substitute for treatment in fever or pox — doctor and vaccination
- Do not hurt or torment a donkey/animal — Sheetla's mount
Frequently asked questions
When is Sheetla Ashtami in 2027?
The date at the top is this year's Chaitra Krishna Ashtami — from panchang calculations; the dawn puja time (sunrise/Brahma Muhurat) is shown too. Many families observe it on the Saptami (a day earlier) — follow your own custom.
What is Basoda and why is no food cooked that day?
The day of 'basi' food — everything is cooked a day earlier and eaten and offered cold on Ashtami without lighting a fire; Sheetla Mata loves coolness (the katha), and a day of cool food at the change of season is an Ayurvedic custom too.
What is the difference between Sheetla Saptami and Ashtami?
The same festival — many regions of Rajasthan-Gujarat on Saptami, Uttar Pradesh-Haryana on Ashtami; the food is cooked on the evening of Saptami/Shashthi. In Gujarat the 'Sheetla Satam' of Shravana is a separate festival (before Janmashtami).
Who is Sheetla Mata?
The goddess of pox, measles and fever (Skanda Purana), riding a donkey, holding broom, fan, pot and neem — a symbol of cleanliness, coolness and medicine; the subduer of Jwarasura; mothers worship her for their children's protection.
Can the gas/hearth really not be lit at all?
By tradition no — cold all day; if an elder, a patient or an infant needs it (warming milk, medicine), light it as much as needed — the Mother wants coolness, not suffering.
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⚠️ This description follows traditional vidhi and folk belief; your own family custom comes first. Children's vaccinations and treatment of illness with a doctor — the vrat is not a substitute; mind the safety of the stale food.
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