🥣 Sheetla Satam and Randhan Chhath (Gujarat) Vrat Katha
The story
In a village all the women cooked the dishes on Randhan Chhath and cooled the hearth, and offered stale bhog to Sheetla Mata on Satam. A merchant's daughter-in-law, in her tiredness, forgot to cool the hearth — the embers kept smouldering. At night Sheetla Mata went round the village, resting on the cold hearth of every home; as she lay on the daughter-in-law's hearth she was burnt — in anger the goddess took the daughter-in-law's sleeping child with her (elsewhere: the child fell to fever and smallpox).
In the morning the daughter-in-law could not find the child and set out weeping in search of Sheetla Mata; on the way she met two women (who had given the Mata cold buttermilk — their sorrow was removed), a potter (whose kiln fire the Mata had cooled); at last she found Sheetla Mata under a banyan outside the village warming her burnt back; recognising her, the daughter-in-law cooled the Mata's back with cold curd and water and begged forgiveness — 'I will never light the hearth on Satam again'; the pleased Mata returned the child alive and gave the boon — 'whoever keeps the hearth cold on Satam and gives me stale, cold bhog, their children will stay free of disease'.
The Sheetla tale of the Skanda Purana: Shubhakari, daughter of King Indradyumna, revived a Brahmin family dead of snakebite by keeping the Sheetla vrat; Sheetla — the water goddess, on a donkey, with broom (sweeping away disease), winnowing fan (sifting), pot (cold water), neem (medicine) — the folk goddess of smallpox and measles worshipped with coolness; the Satam-Aatham fairs of Gujarat (Dwarka, around Tarnetar, Bhavnagar) are in her memory.
Why this katha — the significance
Skanda Purana: the goddess Sheetla — riding a donkey, with broom, pot, winnowing fan and neem in her hands, a form of Durga — the destroyer of disease; the stotra 'Sheetale tvam jaganmata…'; her worship with cold food — 'let no hearth burn today, let the goddess find coolness'; a day of rest for the kitchen in the season of infectious disease at the end of the monsoon, the folk health-science of stale, cold food (the food of Randhan Chhath is mostly long-keeping — thepla, dry sabzi, pickles).
The date rule: in Gujarat-Saurashtra-Kutch the Amanta Shravana Krishna Shashthi-Saptami (before Janmashtami) — the list above follows this; in Rajasthan (Marwar-Jodhpur) some communities keep 'Sheetla Satam' on the same day, others the Basoda of Chaitra; 'Sheetla Saptami' in Shravana in Madhya Pradesh-Malwa; the Sheetla puja in Bengal-Odisha in Chaitra/Phalguna.
A women's vrat: mothers for the protection of children (smallpox-measles-fever); a fast/stale food on Satam, Sheetla darshan; a new bride's first Satam at her in-laws'; Randhan Chhath is the festival of the Gujarati kitchen — 10-15 dishes in every home; 'Satam-Aatham' (Sheetla Satam + Janmashtami) is Saurashtra's great fair and holiday (the folk fairs of Dwarka-Junagadh-Bhavnagar).
How the katha is heard
- Hear or read the katha after the puja, before the aarti — the whole family sits together.
- The one keeping the vrat should listen with a calm mind; keep a lamp lit and a little akshat-flowers in hand.
- At the end, offer the flowers at the deity's feet and bow; share the prasad with everyone.
📿 Sheetla Satam and Randhan Chhath (Gujarat) puja vidhi (step by step) →
Frequently asked questions
When are Sheetla Satam and Randhan Chhath in {Y}?
Both of this year's dates are above — Randhan Chhath (Shravana Krishna Shashthi, Amanta) and Sheetla Satam (Saptami), just before Janmashtami (Aatham); in the North-Indian Purnimanta panchang this is Bhadrapada Krishna Shashthi-Saptami — the same date; match with the Gujarati panchang.
What is the difference between Sheetla Satam and Sheetla Ashtami (Basoda)?
Both are Sheetla Mata's stale-food festivals — Sheetla Satam is of Gujarat-Saurashtra-Kutch, on Shravana (Amanta) Krishna Saptami, before Janmashtami (the end of the monsoon); Sheetla Ashtami/Basoda is of north India-Rajasthan-MP, on Chaitra Krishna Ashtami, eight days after Holi (the end of spring); the vidhi is one — cook on the first day, the hearth cold and stale food the next.
Not even tea or milk on Satam?
In the strict custom no fire at all — not even tea; practical homes keep tea/milk in a thermos on Chhath night or take cold milk-buttermilk; making something hot for infants, the unwell and the elderly is no fault (health comes first — the goddess is a mother); the microwave too is regarded as 'fire'.
How to keep the stale food safe?
On Randhan Chhath make low-moisture, oil-and-spice dishes (thepla-dhebra-dry sabzi-pickles-laddoo-farsan); do not keep milk-paneer-khichdi-rice-kadhi (spoil quickly); covered in an airy cool place/fridge (according to custom); set the curd on Chhath night; smell it in the morning — if sour or foul, do not eat, take fruit and milk.
Why kuler for Sheetla Mata?
Kuler = a dry mix of bajra flour with ghee and jaggery — made without fire, cold, long-keeping — the Sheetla bhog of Gujarat-Rajasthan (on Nag Panchami too); stale roti-curd-jaggery-sweet rice-cold water-neem too; the goddess loves 'coolness', hot, fresh and spicy are forbidden.
What is the Satam-Aatham fair?
The two-to-three-day folk fair and holiday of Sheetla Satam + Janmashtami (Aatham) in Saurashtra-Kutch — swings, stalls, folk dance and raas in Jamnagar, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Porbandar, Dwarka, Bhuj; farmers, traders and artisans all on holiday; the dishes of Randhan Chhath taken to the fair; among Gujarat's biggest rural fairs.
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