Sheetala · She who cools · Basoda
Shitala Mata
Shitala Mata, Sheetala, is the goddess who cools: on her donkey, with her broom, her pot of cool water and the winnowing fan on her head. On Basoda no fire is lit and the food of the day before is offered to her. Say her verse, read her kahani and see when Holi falls in your city.
- Her days
- Every day
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- Next Shitala Mata day
- Holi, then Basoda
- In 141 days · Mon 22 Mar
Gurugram, Haryana
Sheetla Mata Mandir
Her temple at Gurugram is held to be that of Kripi, the wife of Guru Dronacharya, who cared for children with smallpox. Families bring children here for the mundan, the first haircut, and crowds come in Chaitra and at Navratri.
All her temples →Near Chaksu, Jaipur
Her temple on the hill
At Seel ki Doongri, a village some 35 km from Jaipur, her temple stands on top of a small hill, the doongri, with a red stone as her image. In Chaitra a fair of a single day gathers round it, with a cattle fair beside.
Beside Dashashwamedh Ghat
Shitala Ghat
In Varanasi her temple stands on Shitala Ghat, the ghat just beside Dashashwamedh, the city’s main ghat, where the steps come down to the Ganga.
Beside the ancient well
By Agam Kuan
In Patna her temple stands beside Agam Kuan, an ancient well and one of the old sites of the city; inside, the seven mothers, the Saptamatrikas, are worshipped with her.
Her day in Shravan
Shitala Satam
Gujarat keeps her day in Shravan as Shitala Satam, the seventh of the waning moon by its own calendar, in August. The day before, Randhan Chhath, is for cooking; on Satam the stove stays cold.
Tap a place, or its name, to read about it. Positions are approximate. Four of her temples where they stand, and Gujarat, which keeps her day in Shravan.
Her days, in your city
Dates and puja times for the city you pick
For New Delhi
Her Sheetala Ashtami, Basoda, follows on the Ashtami after Holi, the eighth of the waning moon of Chaitra.
- Every day
- Sun 1 NovHer days of the week
Say her dhyana verse
वन्देऽहं शीतलां देवीं रासभस्थां दिगम्बराम् ।
मार्जनीकलशोपेतां शूर्पालङ्कृतमस्तकाम् ॥
Vandeham Shitalam Devim rasabhastham digambaram,
Marjanikalashopetam shurpalankritamastakam.
I bow to the Goddess Shitala, who sits on a donkey, clothed by the directions alone, who holds a broom and a pot of water, her head crowned with a winnowing fan.
मैं देवी शीतला को नमन करता हूँ, जो गधे पर विराजमान हैं, दिशाएँ ही जिनका वस्त्र हैं, जो झाड़ू और कलश धारण करती हैं और जिनके सिर पर सूप शोभा देता है।
The first verse of the Sheetalashtakam, the hymn of the Skanda Purana recited on Sheetala Ashtami: it pictures her as devotees meditate on her, with every emblem she carries. Her aarti and her chalisa are not given here until their authorship is known.
Her prayers
- SheetalashtakamThe hymn of the Skanda Purana to her, recited on Sheetala Ashtami; its first verse is given aboveSoon
A simple Basoda puja at home
Customs differ by family and region; this is a simple way to keep Basoda at home, the way of the cold hearth. Her aarti and chalisa are not given here.
- On the Saptami, the day before, cook the food for her day, such as sweet rice, pachkuta and rabri, and let it cool overnight.
- Clean the kitchen and leave the hearth cold: on the Ashtami no fire is lit for cooking.
- In the morning, after a bath, offer her cool water, curd and the food cooked the day before.
- Worship her picture with flowers, and say her dhyana verse or her mantra.
- Tell or read the kahani of Basoda.
- Eat the cold food as prasad, and share it with your family and neighbours.
What you need
- Her picture
- Cool water in a kalash
- Curd
- Food cooked the day before
- Flowers
Who is Shitala Mata
Shitala Mata, or Sheetala, is the Goddess as the one who cools: her name comes from shital, cool. She is worshipped above all in North India, and many hold her to be a form of Goddess Parvati. The Sheetalashtakam, a hymn of the Skanda Purana spoken by Lord Shiva, shows her seated on a donkey with a broom and a pot of cool water, and a winnowing fan, the soop, on her head.
For centuries she was the goddess families turned to when smallpox, with its fever and its burning pox, came to a village, and she is still prayed to for children who are unwell. Smallpox itself is gone, ended by vaccination and declared eradicated by the World Health Organization in 1980. Her worship goes on as tradition, beside the doctor, not in place of one.
Her great day is Sheetala Ashtami, Basoda, the eighth of the waning moon of Chaitra, the Ashtami after Holi: the food is cooked the day before, no fire is lit for cooking, and the cold food is offered to her and eaten as prasad. Her temples include the Sheetla Mata Mandir at Gurugram and her temple on the hill at Seel ki Doongri, near Jaipur.
- Sheetala her name as many write it, as in Sheetala Ashtami
- Shitala Devi the Goddess who cools
- Sheetla Mata as her temple at Gurugram writes it
- Mata Masani as she is also called at Gurugram
ॐ ह्रीं श्रीं शीतलायै नमः
Om Hreem Shreem Shitalayai Namah
Salutations to Shitala, with the seed syllables Hreem and Shreem. It is said eleven times.
ह्रीं और श्रीं बीज अक्षरों के साथ देवी शीतला को नमस्कार। इसे ग्यारह बार जपा जाता है।
शीतले त्वं जगन्माता शीतले त्वं जगत्पिता ।
शीतले त्वं जगद्धात्री शीतलायै नमो नमः ॥
Shitale tvam jaganmata, Shitale tvam jagatpita,
Shitale tvam jagaddhatri, Shitalayai namo namah.
Shitala, you are the mother of the world; Shitala, you are its father; Shitala, you uphold the world. To Shitala, salutations again and again.
हे शीतला, आप जगत की माता हैं, आप जगत के पिता हैं, आप जगत को धारण करने वाली हैं। शीतला को बार-बार नमस्कार।
Her great days
When devotees worship her most
Sheetala Ashtami
Chaitra Krishna Ashtami, the eighth of the waning moon of Chaitra, the Ashtami after Holi, in March or April: Basoda. Food is cooked the day before, no fire is lit for cooking, and the cold food is offered to her and eaten as prasad.
Sheetala Saptami
The seventh, the day before, when the food for Basoda is cooked. In some families and regions her puja itself is on the Saptami.
Shitala Satam
Gujarat’s day for her, in Shravan, the seventh of the waning moon by its own calendar, in August: Randhan Chhath, the day before, is for cooking, and on Satam the stove stays cold.
Basoda, the day no fire is lit
Sheetala Ashtami, the Ashtami after Holi
Saptami evening
Cooking the day before
On the Saptami, the seventh, the day before Basoda, the family cooks all that the next day will need: sweet rice, pachkuta, rabri and more, the last cooking fire before her day.
Her great days →Through the night
Left to cool
The food is covered and left to cool through the night. Basoda takes its name from basi, food of the day before, which is all that will be eaten on her day.
Ashtami morning
The cold hearth
On the Ashtami, Basoda itself, no fire is lit for cooking. The hearth has been cleaned and is left cold all day, for this is the day of the goddess who cools.
To her first
The offering
In the morning the cold food is offered to her first, with cool water and curd, at her temple or at home, and the kahani of Basoda is told or read.
Eaten cold, shared
Prasad
Then the family eats the cold food as prasad, and it is shared with children and neighbours: a whole day of cold food, kept together.
The day before and the day itself, in five steps. Tap a step, or its name, to read it. The Saptami evening on the left, under the moon, and the Ashtami morning on the right, under the sun: the food cooked the day before is cooled, offered to her and shared.
What her symbols mean
The donkey
Her vahana, the plainest of animals: her verse calls her rasabhastha, seated on a donkey.
The broom, marjani
The short broom of every home: the sweeping and the cleanliness her worship asks for.
The pot of cool water
Cool water, as her name is cool: the first offering of her day, and the coolness families pray for as summer comes.
The winnowing fan, soop
The flat basket that winnows grain, worn on her head as a crown, and in her worship the fan for one in fever.
Neem leaves
Neem is her tree: its leaves are offered at her shrines, and she is said to dwell in the neem.
Cold food
Food cooked the day before and eaten cold, with no fire lit: on her day the whole house is kept cool.
Her stories
Across India
Rajasthan
Basoda is kept across Rajasthan with food cooked the day before. At Seel ki Doongri, near Chaksu outside Jaipur, a fair of a single day gathers in Chaitra round her temple on the hill, with a cattle fair beside it.
Haryana
At Gurugram, families bring their children to her temple for the mundan, the first haircut, and crowds come in Chaitra and at Navratri. Basoda is kept across Haryana, as in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Gujarat
Gujarat keeps her day in Shravan, as Shitala Satam: the day before, Randhan Chhath, is for cooking, and on Satam the stove stays cold and the food of the day before is eaten, with curd.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
Her temples stand on Shitala Ghat in Varanasi, beside Dashashwamedh Ghat, and beside Agam Kuan, the ancient well of Patna, where the seven mothers, the Saptamatrikas, are worshipped with her.
Tamil Nadu
Mariamman, whom many identify with her, is worshipped with cooling offerings too, though the customs are not the same as Basoda.
Her temples
- Sheetla Mata MandirGurugram, Haryana
- Sheetla Mata Temple, on the hillSeel ki Doongri, near Chaksu, Jaipur, Rajasthan
- Shitala Mata Temple, Shitala GhatVaranasi, Uttar Pradesh
- Shitala Devi Mandir, by Agam KuanPatna, Bihar
Questions
Who is Shitala Mata?
Shitala Mata, or Sheetala, is the Goddess as the one who cools, worshipped above all in North India and held by many to be a form of Goddess Parvati. She sits on a donkey with a broom, a pot of cool water and a winnowing fan on her head.
What is Basoda?
Basoda is Sheetala Ashtami, her great day. Its name comes from basi, food of the day before: the food is cooked on the Saptami, no fire is lit for cooking on the Ashtami, and the cold food is offered to her and eaten as prasad.
When is Sheetala Ashtami?
On Chaitra Krishna Ashtami, the eighth of the waning moon of Chaitra, the Ashtami after Holi, in March or April. In some families and regions her puja is on the Saptami, the day before, and Gujarat keeps Shitala Satam in Shravan.
Why is no fire lit on Sheetala Ashtami?
She is the goddess who cools, and her day is kept cool: the food is cooked the day before, the hearth is cleaned and left cold, and the cold food is offered to her and eaten as prasad.
What is the kahani of Sheetala Ashtami?
The Goddess came to earth unknown and was scalded by boiling rice water thrown out in a village lane. A poor potter’s wife gave her cold food and curd, and the burning eased. She showed who she was, took away that house’s poverty and asked to be offered cold food on the Ashtami after Holi.
Why is she linked with smallpox?
For centuries she was the goddess prayed to when smallpox, a disease of fever and pox, came to a village, and the coolness of her worship answered its heat. Smallpox was ended by vaccination and declared eradicated in 1980; she is worshipped still, as tradition.
Is her aarti given here?
Not yet. Her aarti and her chalisa are sung widely, but no source names their authors or when they were written, so they are held back until that is known. The dhyana verse of the Sheetalashtakam, a hymn of the Skanda Purana, is given instead.
Where are Shitala Mata’s temples?
Among her best known are the Sheetla Mata Mandir at Gurugram in Haryana, her temple on the hill at Seel ki Doongri near Jaipur, her temple on Shitala Ghat in Varanasi and the temple beside Agam Kuan in Patna.
What is the mantra of Shitala Mata?
Om Hreem Shreem Shitalayai Namah, said eleven times; and her dhyana verse, Vandeham Shitalam Devim, from the Sheetalashtakam.