Sheetala Ashtami 2027

About Sheetala Ashtami

Sheetala Ashtami, called Basoda in much of north India, is the day families worship the goddess Sheetala and eat only food cooked the evening before, and in 2027 it falls on Tuesday, 30 March 2027. It comes on the eighth lunar day of the waning moon after Holi, though some families keep the seventh day instead, and it is strongest in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat.

The everyday name says it all. Basoda comes from *basi*, stale, and on this day the kitchen fire in many north Indian homes is not lit at all. Everything the family eats was cooked the evening before, offered to the goddess Sheetala in the morning, and then eaten cold as her prasad.

Who Sheetala is

The name means "the cool one". Sheetala is a form of the goddess Devi, worshipped across north India and Bengal as the one who cools fevers, and she has long been prayed to against smallpox, chickenpox and measles. Mothers, in particular, keep her day for their children's health.

Her image is easy to recognise once you know it: a young woman riding a donkey, with a winnowing fan on her head, a short broom in one hand and a pot of cool water in the other, often with neem leaves. Devotees read these as tools of a careful household: the broom to sweep, the water to cool, the neem to heal. In north Indian images a fever demon, Jvarasura, often appears as her attendant. A hymn to her, the Sheetalashtak, is part of the Skanda Purana, and tradition credits it to Shiva.

Her best-known temples include the Sheetla Mata Mandir in Gurugram, where the district administration describes two large melas a year, in Chaitra and Ashadh.

How the date is set

The main observance falls on Ashtami, the eighth lunar day, of the dark fortnight after Holi. In the purnimanta calendar used across north India, that fortnight belongs to Chaitra, so the day is Chaitra Krishna Ashtami. Several variations sit around it:

• Sheetala Saptami. Many families worship on the seventh day and eat the stale food then. Panchangs list Saptami separately, usually the day before.
• A weekday after Holi. In some places the puja is held on the first Monday after Holi, or on a Thursday or Friday; sources differ on which.
• Other months. Hindi sources say the Ashtami of the dark fortnight in Vaishakh, Jyeshtha and Ashadh is also hers, though Chaitra's is the one most homes keep.
• Gujarat. Gujarati families keep Shitala Satam in Shravan instead, the day before Krishna Janmashtami, with the same rule of no fresh cooking.

If a relative's date differs from the calendar on this page by a day, that is almost always the Saptami-Ashtami split. Ask which day the family keeps.

How the day goes

1. Cleaning and cookingOn the evening before, the kitchen is cleaned and the food for the next day is cooked: curd, jaggery, rabri and other dishes that keep overnight.
2. No fireOn the day itself the stove is not lit. In many homes nothing hot is served all day.
3. The pujaWomen offer the cold food to Sheetala at a temple, at a home shrine, or at the spot where the Holika fire was lit a week earlier.
4. The potter's shareIn many villages the priest at the Sheetala shrine is a potter, and part of the offering goes to him.
5. Blessings and the mealElders give their blessings and the whole family eats the stale food as prasad.

Hindi sources add one more reason for the custom: Basoda is treated as the last day of the season on which stale food may be eaten. After it, with summer arriving, food is eaten fresh.

Fairs and gatherings

In Rajasthan the day is a public event as well as a home one. The best-known fair is held at the hilltop Sheetala Mata temple at Seel ki Doongri, near Chaksu in Jaipur district, and lasts a day. Smaller Sheetala melas are held in towns and villages across Rajasthan on the same day, and in Gurugram the Chaitra mela at the Sheetla Mata Mandir draws very large crowds.

What to write

Most wishes go to a mother, grandmother or aunt who cooked the night before and will do the puja in the morning. Thank her, ask for the goddess's protection for the children, and keep the tone gentle.

How to wish someone on Sheetala Ashtami

Sheetala Ashtami is a household observance about health, especially children's health, so a good wish is quiet and caring rather than festive. Ask for the goddess's protection for the family and the children, acknowledge whoever cooked the night before, and mention the basoda plate. Use Hindi or the family's language if you can. A short \"Sheetala Mata sabki raksha karein\" (may Sheetala Mata protect everyone) says more than a party greeting.

Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.

Language tip: English, Hindi + Rajasthani.

When is Sheetala Ashtami in each year?

Sheetala Ashtami is set by the Hindu lunisolar calendar, so it falls on a different date each year. In 2027 it falls 19 days later than in 2026.

Frequently asked questions