Śītalā Saptamī 2026

Śītalā Saptamī falls on Śrāvaṇa Kṛṣṇa Saptamī and is dedicated to Goddess Śītalā, who guards against fevers, pox, and other heat-borne afflictions. The day is determined by a Sāyaṅkāla-vyāpinī rule: the Saptamī tithi must prevail during Sāyaṅkāla (the last three of the day's fifteen muhūrtas, just before sunset).

Goddess Śītalā 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 bāsī (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 Śītalā Mātā to offer worship for the health and protection of their families.