Sheetala Ashtami (Basoda) 2025: Date, Time & Significance

Sheetala Ashtami 2025: In hindu culture, Basoda 2025, known as Sheetla asthami, keeps special importance, but it is mainly celebrated across Rajasthan.

On this day, people do not cook anything as one day before the festival, lots of dishes, sweets, and food are prepared and kept for the next day.

On the day of the festival, followers wake up early in the morning and take a bath.

First, the items are prepared one day before being offered to Goddess Sheetala, and then people consume them.

There is the ritual of eating cold food on Sheetala Ashtami; it is believed not to have warm food or drinks during this ritual.

But why is this custom followed? Who is Goddess Sheetala, and how is it known for Basoda? Lots of questions and the answer is only, Wait!

We will explain all of these things. Come with us to learn about everything about Basoda 2025.

Date & Time of Sheetala Ashtami 2025

Sheetala Ashtami has another name, Basoda, which will fall this year on 22 March 2025.

The day is celebrated while preparing food one day before on 21 March 2025. The rituals will be executed in the following time and muhurats.

Event	Date & Time
Sheetala Ashtami 2025	Saturday, March 22, 2025
Sheetala Ashtami Puja Muhurat	06:42 AM to 06:51 PM
Duration	12 Hours 10 Mins
Sheetala Saptami	March 21, 2025
Ashtami Tithi begins	04:23 AM on Mar 22, 2025
Ashtami Tithi Ends	05:23 AM on Mar 23, 2025

 

What is Sheetala Ashtami 2025?

Sheetala Asthami 2025, called Basoda 2025, is a hindu festival dedicated to Goddess Sheeta, the Goddess honoured for her capability to control and cure diseases.

Following the celebration of Holi, Sheetala Asthami is celebrated on the 8th day of the Krishna paksha.

As per our beliefs, it is observed by fasting, performing rituals, and following the rituals connected with Sheetala Ashtami as followers achieve divine security against illness.

The deity is known as a symbol of cleanliness and well-being and an offering made to her is thought to attain relief from many disorders.

Who is Goddess Sheetala?

Do you know that Sheetala Devi is mainly honoured in North India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and West Bengal? No problem!

Basically, as the name depicts, ‘Sheetala’ or ‘Shitala’ means the one who cools down something. She is known as one of the incarnations of the powerful goddess Durga or Shakti.

The goddess is pleased to cure severe diseases like sores, pustules, ghouls, poxes, and other ailments.

She was introduced first in 17th Century Bengali text Shitala-mangal-kayas, a scripture by Manika Gangopadhyay. Various hindu groups, tribal and Buddhists, please Goddess.

In the northern part, the goddess has many names, such as Dayamayi, Bhagwati, Mangala, Jagrani, and Karunamayi.

However, in the southern part, Devi is known as Mariamman. Local followers of Haryana called her Shitala devi as Kripi or the consort of Dronacharya.

According to the Skanda Purana, Goddess Sheetala is known to cure illnesses and diseases. Devotees look to Sheetala Mata to preserve the planet whenever deadly illnesses or plagues strike.

She, therefore, symbolizes her ability to purify the surroundings by holding a broom or neem twigs in one hand and a pot of medicinal fluid in the other.

Characteristics of Goddess Sheetala

The holy scripture describes the characteristics of goddess Sheetala as seated on a donkey and holding a broom in one hand, where the other hand holds a pot filled with cold water. Plus, she has a winnowing fan on her head. And wearing a garland of neem leaves.

However, these components have different meanings and relevance to natural aspects of cosmic development and value in our lives described below.

• Broom
• Winnowing fan
• Pot
• neem leaves
• Donkey

Initially, talking about what broom indicates. The broom represents the cleaning of germs and removing illness.

Secondly, a winnowing fan is a sacred tool used to purify the straw from grains and is used in households.

It indicates the cleansing process by which ill people are cured and isolated from other people.

And the cold water-filled pot shows recovering from fever is required to heal people. Plus, neem leaves are the detailing of natural prevention with herbs and Ayurveda.

Evidently, the Goddess rides on the donkey, being humble, focused, and calm to bless the devotees.

When to Observe Sheetala Ashtami (Basoda) 2025?

Sheetala Ashtami comes on the eighth day of Krishna paksha in Chaitra month, which is the first month of the hindu calendar.

The day is considered the most auspicious day for people because it follows them to honour Goddess Sheetal for the health and abundance of their family.

The festival of basoda is observed in the regions of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat.

Sheetala ashtami comes the next day of Holi and is the most propitious day according to the hindu region.

Hence, before going towards, we have to know the auspicious date and time of Sheetala asthami coming in 2025.

Significance of Sheetala Ashtami 2025

The most significant festival, Sheetal Ashatami 2025, called Basoda, is often described as honouring the Goddess with ‘Basa’ stale food. On the day, followers worship deities with stale food. However, no food is prepared on this day.

The name depicts Sheetala Mata as the deity of ‘the cold one.’ Hence, most of the residents cook food for the festival a day before Ashtami and digest stale food on the day after offering it to the Goddess.

It is believed that honouring the deity on the dat will cure the people of diseases such as chickenpox, smallpox, et cetera, and eradicate other illnesses.

This is also said broom in the hands of Devi removes poverty at bay and encourages the growth of wealth in households.

Basoda puja, the worship of Goddess Sheetala, is often observed eight days following Holi, while some individuals choose to celebrate it on the Monday or Friday following Holi.

The Basoda Puja laws state that no fire is set to prepare food on that day, and everyone who eats must consume stale food from the previous day.

For the benefit of themselves and their families, many devotees around the world observe this rite and worship Goddess Sheetala on this day.

Let’s now discover the appropriate procedures to adhere to on the day of the Basoda Puja.

Customs of Sheetala Ashtami 2025

Observing Sheetala Ashtami (Basoda) 2025 requires to follow the customs below:

1. Fasting and offering worship
Devotees keep fasting and make sure of the cleanliness of the house on Sheetala ashtmai.

Devi Sheetala is pleased with prayers, especially with fruits, milk, and sweets. People also present special prayers to the deity to bless them with protection from illness.

2. Ignore cooking on Sheetala Ashtami
The most auspicious thing to remember while celebrating Basoda is to avoid cooking on such a day.

It’s an important ritual, where family members prepare food a day before the ritual and have it on the next day.

This ritual indicates simplicity and dedication to the deity and her characteristics to safeguard from illness.

3. Donation and help needy people
Donating on the day is also an important ritual of Sheetala Ashtami. People often contribute food, clothes, or even money to the needy.

This act is a way to show kindness as Goddess does and bless the people as well.

4. Purification Rituals
Another thing about the Basoda festival is to maintain cleanliness. Individuals clean their houses and living places to worship the Goddess who shows purity and good health.

Bhog Prepared for Basoda 2025

To go with the arrangements for Basoda bhog preparation after taking into consideration the following:

• Prepare food always in pure oil
• Remember to use Jaggery for Basoda 2025.
• To offer bhog to the Goddess, prepare roti, potato puris, besan, sweetened rice, black gram, Keri ki launji, etc.
• Present sweets using milk or milk products.
• Additionally, Curd or butter can be served on sweetened roti 
• Raw lassi is also a part of bhog.
• Prevent to offer of hot or freshly cooked items.

Mythological Story of Sheetala Ashtami 2025

1. How did the ritual start?

Earlier, during the day of sheetala ashatmi, an old woman and her two daughters-in-law agreed to honour the goddess and made food on the day of Saptami to have it on the next day.

But they recently had given birth to sons, and hence they were worried about getting sick from consuming stale food, and also children getting sick due to this.

So they decided to worship the deity with an old woman but after that eat a warm, fresh meal apart from stale food according to ritual.

Secretly, they cook fresh and warm food for themselves and act to consume stale food for the old woman.

This made Goddess Sheetala angry, and after some time, when they went to wake their sons up to feed them. But when they reached them, they found their sons dead.

Narrating the whole story to the old woman, she got furious and expelled her daughters-in-law from the village and ordered them to come only when they got the forgiveness of the goddess and bring the boys back to life.

2. Starts to find the goddess Sheetala

The older women feigned eating the stale food while covertly preparing fresh food for themselves.

Because of Goddess Sheetala’s fury, the ladies eventually went to wake their sons up with the intention of feeding them, but when they arrived at their cribs, they discovered them dead.

Once hearing the entire tale, the older mother became enraged and exiled her daughters-in-law from the community, requesting that they return only once they were able to resurrect the young boys.

3. Found the Goddess Sheetala

Later on, the stressed women search around the lands for Goddess Sheetala in order to seek her blessings, forgive them for their mistakes, and grant life to the children.

On the way to the goddess search, they met with 2 sisters, named Ori and Sheetala, sitting under a huge tree.

They both were disturbed by the lice in their hair and tried to remove them. While both daughters-in-law saw this, they helped them out and removed all lice from their hair.

4. Forgiveness From Sheetala Mata

The two sisters were satisfied after the lice were removed from their hair and blessed by saying, ‘May your wishes fulfil the way you have helped us.’

Both sisters shared that they have been searching for the goddess Sheetala to live with their children.

Heating this, one of the sisters said ‘The two of you have made mistakes, wicked and mischievous; you’re not even even knowing this.

The day of sheetala Ashtami is performed by only consuming stale food, but you both had warm food.

The daughter-in-law knows the presence of the Goddess and seeks her forgiveness.

Seeing their kind words, the Goddess forgave them and brought their children back to life.

They both came back to the village and were happily welcomed home after knowing they were blessed by Goddess Sheetala.

Since then, the importance of this day has become popular and celebrated all over India with huge dedication.

The Sheetala Ashatami Puja Vidhi

A lot of preparations are made before performing the Sheetala ashatami. One must follow the procedures to please the deity with sincere dedication and receive her blessings.

Hence, 99Pandit brought the list of steps to execute on Basoda celebrations.

• Must wake early in the morning, ideally during Brahma muhurat which is between 3:30 am to 5:30 pm.
• Completing all the daily routines, bathe with clean water mixed with ganga jal before sunrise. If you can’t, make sure to bathe with clean water.
• Wear orange clothes after taking a shower.
• Prepare the things required for puja to offer deity.
• Arrange plates with items to offer the Goddess Sheetala.
• Put the items on the first plate – curd, roti, namak pare, pua, sweet stale rice, mathri, and millet made a day before puja.
• Put the following items on the second plate – a lamp made of flour, clean clothes, coin, mehendi, kumkum, and a pot filled with cold water.
• Perform aarti and offer prasad in the plates without lighting the diya.
• Offer water to the neem tree as well.

How is Basoda Celebrated in Different Regions of India?

Sheetla Ashtami has a broad significance and is observed in various ways throughout states. Basoda pooja will be celebrated by devotees in the main regions of the nation.

By paying respect to Sheetala Mata on Basoda 2025, one can stave off illnesses like smallpox, which is thought to be the goddess of sickness.

Now, let’s examine what Basoda means to various states.

• To commemorate this day, numerous fairs are held across Rajasthan. People venerate the Goddess and enthusiastically visit this fair.
• Ker sangri, malpua, gulgule, puri, and roti are all made in Bhog.
• The magnificent fair held during the Basoda festival in Sheetla Mata Shakti Dham, Madhya Pradesh, draws a large number of visitors and devotees.
• Devotees in Gujarat worship the goddess Sheetala and celebrate the festival of Basoda by making special items.

Benefits of Sheetala Ashtami

Sheetala ashtami 2025, i.e., Basoda 2025, blesses the devotees with various benefits.

1. The best treatment for diseases such as poxes, sores, high fever, seasonal diseases, and smallpoxes. 
2. Safeguard against heat, skin diseases, and accidents.
3. Removes miseries and hurdles.

Conclusion

Thus, the Sheetala Ashtami 2025 keeps special importance in hindu dharma and is best known for curing devotees’ diseases and eliminating them from all suffering.

We advise you to follow the above-mentioned details to understand the sacred day and how Goddess Sheetala blesses you with a happy and prosperous life.