🥣 Sheetla Satam and Randhan Chhath (Gujarat) Puja Vidhi — step by step
This is the Randhan Chhath–Sheetla Satam vidhi of a Gujarati home — the dishes and hearth puja on Chhath, the Sheetla puja and stale food on Satam; the same for families of Marwar-Malwa.
How to do Sheetla Satam and Randhan Chhath (Gujarat) — the steps
- Randhan Chhath (Shashthi) — all day: bathe in the morning, clean the house and kitchen; cook all the food for Satam (and in many homes Aatham/Janmashtami too) — thepla (methi/doodhi), dhebra (bajra-methi), poori, bajra rotla, dry sabzi (stuffed ringan/bhindi/karela-potato), curry (no kadhi — many homes), sweets (lapsi/sheero/laddoo/puran poli), farsan (dhokla-khaman-muthia-patra), pickles-chhundo, set the curd, no khichdi (needs to be fresh); fill and store water.
- Randhan Chhath — night: after all the dishes are done the hearth/stove is made completely cold — wash the hearth with water, worship it with turmeric-kumkum-rice-flowers, a lamp, a pot of cold water on the hearth; the vow 'no fire will burn tomorrow'; keep stale roti, curd and jaggery for Sheetla Mata apart in the kitchen; turn the griddle and kadhai upside down (custom).
- Sheetla Satam — morning: bathe in cold water (no hot water — many homes), clean clothes; do not light the hearth, not even tea (strict custom — some homes milk-tea from outside/a thermos); the worship of Sheetla Mata's picture at the temple/at home — cold water, curd, stale roti-thepla, jaggery, kuler (bajra-jaggery-ghee), sweet rice, neem leaves, turmeric-kumkum, flowers; the 'Sheetla Ashtak/Sheetla Stotra'; fodder and jaggery for the donkey (Sheetla's mount); a sprinkle of cold water on the children before the Mata — protection from disease.
- Sheetla Satam — the katha: hear the Sheetla Satam katha (below — the daughter-in-law and the hearth) with the family, all the women; the mothers keeping the vrat take fruit/one meal of stale food; no vrat for children — feed them the stale food.
- Sheetla Satam — the meal: the whole family eats stale (Randhan Chhath's) food all day — thepla-curd-pickle, rotla-sabzi, sweets, farsan; nothing is heated (not even the microwave — custom); a thali of stale food gifted to guests and neighbours; the Sheetla aarti in the evening.
- Satam — the day: markets and fairs (the Satam-Aatham fair — Saurashtra), swings, children's games; many homes go to Sheetla temples by a pond/river; from 12 at night Janmashtami (Aatham) — Kanha's birth, the hearth is lit again (many homes keep Aatham sattvic and fresh too).
- Aatham (the next day — Janmashtami): light the hearth in the morning and offer fresh bhog first to Sheetla Mata and then to Krishna; the leftover stale food to the cow, donkey and the poor; the night puja of Janmashtami.
- The North-Indian equivalent: the Basoda (Sheetla Ashtami) of Chaitra Krishna Ashtami — the dishes on Saptami, stale on Ashtami; the vidhi almost the same — on that page; in Rajasthan-Marwar the Shravana custom of 'Sheetla Satam' too.
Puja samagri checklist
The full kitchen of Randhan Chhath + the hearth puja + Sheetla Mata's cold bhog — the two-day list.
- The Randhan Chhath kitchen: wheat-bajra flour, methi-doodhi (thepla-dhebra), besan (khaman-dhokla-muthia), colocasia leaves (patra), vegetables (brinjal-okra-karela-potato), jaggery-ghee (lapsi-laddoo-kuler), milk for setting curd, pickles-chhundo-murabba, spices, oil
- The hearth puja: water, turmeric, kumkum, rice, flowers, lamp, a pot of cold water; the griddle and kadhai (to turn upside down)
- Sheetla Mata: picture/idol (on a donkey, with broom-winnowing fan-pot), temple darshan; bhog — stale roti-thepla, curd, jaggery, kuler (bajra-jaggery-ghee), sweet rice (cold), cold water, neem leaves, turmeric-kumkum, flowers (hibiscus-marigold), coconut, winnowing fan-broom (symbols — some homes)
- Stotra/katha: the Sheetla Ashtak (Skanda Purana), the Sheetla Satam katha, aarti
- Fodder and jaggery for the donkey; a sprinkle of cold water and neem for the children
- Vrat: fruit (fruit-curd-milk — without heating), stale food; a cold-water bath
- Aatham/Janmashtami: the items for the fresh bhog (the next day)
The full Randhan Chhath menu — thepla, dhebra, rotla, lapsi, farsan; everything cold on Satam
Randhan Chhath is the festival of the Gujarati kitchen — 10-15 dishes that stay tasty cold the next day (oil, spices, dry sabzi, pickles); nothing heated on Satam — thepla-rotla with curd, pickles and chhundo; kuler and stale roti-curd for Sheetla Mata; stale food is regarded as light on the stomach (fermentation). The list below.
- The roti group: methi thepla, doodhi thepla, dhebra (bajra-methi-jaggery), bajra-jowar rotla, poori (masala), bhakhri — with curd and pickles on Satam
- Sabzi (dry/oily — good cold): bharela ringan-bataka (stuffed brinjal-potato), bhindi sambharo, karela shaak, tuver-dhokli (some), dry potato, sambharo (a fresh-style pickle of cabbage-carrot-chilli)
- Farsan: khaman-dhokla, muthia, patra (colocasia leaves), khandvi, chakri-ganthia-sev, dal vada, bhajiya (on Chhath)
- Sweets: lapsi (broken wheat-jaggery-ghee), sheero, boondi/motichoor laddoo, puran poli, ghari (Surat), mohanthal, kheer (cold), kuler (bajra flour-ghee-jaggery — the special bhog of Sheetla Mata), shrikhand (set on Chhath)
- Pickles-chutney-curd: chhundo (sweet mango pickle), gunda-keri, methia, green chutney, curd (set on Chhath night), buttermilk (may be churned — no fire)
- The Sheetla bhog: kuler, stale roti/thepla, curd, jaggery, sweet rice, cold water, neem; fresh on Aatham — panjiri-butter (Krishna)
Rules — do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- Cook all the food on Randhan Chhath, wash and worship the hearth at night, let it go cold; no fire on Satam
- Cold water-curd-stale roti-kuler-neem for Sheetla Mata; fodder and jaggery for the donkey; a cold sprinkle for the children
- Keep the stale food cold and clean (covered, airy) — thepla, dry sabzi and pickles keep well; hear the katha
- Fresh bhog on Aatham first to Sheetla then to Krishna; the leftover stale food to the cow and the poor
- The unwell/pregnant/infants: fruit-milk-curd (without heating) instead of stale food — health first
❌ Don't
- No lighting the hearth, stove or microwave on Satam, no hot water, no making tea (custom — fire distresses Sheetla)
- Do not let the Randhan Chhath food spoil in heat and humidity — do not keep milk-based/khichdi-rice-like things (spoil quickly); use the fridge according to custom
- No hot/freshly cooked bhog, red chilli or strong spices for Sheetla Mata; no harm to the neem tree
- No forcing stale food on a sick child; no troubling the donkey
- No sewing, scissors, cutting hair and nails on Satam (folk rule); no quarrels
Vrat katha
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 ember… Read the full katha →
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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