Shitala Satam 1973

Shitala Satam (Sheetala Saptami) falls on Shravana Krishna Saptami and is dedicated to Goddess Shitala, who guards against fevers, pox, and other heat-borne afflictions.

Goddess Shitala is traditionally depicted riding a donkey, carrying a broom, a winnowing fan, and a pot of cool water, symbols of cleansing and of cooling the body's heat. Her worship is closely tied to the practice observed on this day: no fire is lit and no fresh food is cooked. Devotees instead eat baasi (stale food) prepared the previous night, cooked cold, as an offering of coolness to the Goddess and a discipline against the heat she is invoked to soothe.

The observance is mainly kept in Gujarat, where households prepare the previous evening's meal with this day already in mind, and women visit local shrines to Shitala Mata to offer worship for the health and protection of their families.