->Yngvadottir: Short description changed: Indian Festival -> Hindu festival. Capitalization, plus religious, not national. (This edit is not an endorsement of the WMF, whose promotion of Wikidata makes it necessary.)

2021-12-04T22:58:29Z

Short description changed: Indian Festival -> Hindu festival. Capitalization, plus religious, not national. (This edit is not an endorsement of the WMF, whose promotion of Wikidata makes it necessary.)

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{{Short description|Hindu festival}}{{more citations needed|date=March 2019}}

'''Sheetala Ashtami''' or '''Sheetalasthami''' is a [[Hindu]] festival in honor of the goddess [[Shitala]] or Sheetala, celebrated on the eighth day ([[ashtami]]) after the festival of colors, [[Holi]].

Sheetala Ashtami is celebrated on the eighth day of [[Krishna Paksha]] (the waning moon) in the [[Hindu month]] of [[Chaitra]],<ref name=Aaj>{{cite news |author=प्रज्ञा बाजपेयी |title=जानें- क्या है शीतला अष्टमी का महत्व, ऐसे करें शीतला माता की पूजा |url=https://aajtak.intoday.in/story/sheetala-ashtami-2019-pujan-vidhi-and-significance-tlifd-1-1070498.html |newspaper=Aaj Tak |language=Hindi |date=26 March 2019 |accessdate=25 February 2020 }}</ref><ref name=Times>{{cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/astrology/rituals-puja/sheetala-ashtami-the-puja-that-drives-heat-borne-diseases/articleshow/68206364.cms |title=Sheetala Ashtami: The Puja That Drives Heat Borne Diseases |newspaper=Times of India |orig-year=23 December 2016 |date=21 April 2019 }}</ref> and thus falls eight days after Holi.<ref name=NDTV>{{cite news |author=रेणु चौहान |title=Sheetala Ashtami 2019: शीतला अष्टमी का शुभ मुहूर्त, प्रसाद, पूजा-विधि और कथा |url=https://khabar.ndtv.com/news/faith/sheetala-ashtami-2019-sheetala-ashtami-puja-shubh-muhurat-datetime-katha-and-importance-2013504 |website=NDTV Khabar |language=Hindi |date=27 March 2019 |accessdate=25 February 2020}}</ref>

The festival falls at the start of the summer season; Shitala is worshipped to ward off heat-borne diseases, such as [[smallpox]], and also to bring prosperity.<ref name=Aaj/><ref name=Times/> Observances of the day involve offering to the goddess and consuming only food prepared one or two days before.<ref name=Aaj/><ref name=Times/><ref name=NDTV/> For this reason, Sheetala Ashtami is referred to in some parts of India as Basora or Basoda, meaning "previous night".<ref name=Times/> [[Khadi]], panchkuta, [[Khichu|khichiya]],<ref name=Times/> and sweetened rice<ref name=NDTV/> are foods traditionally offered and consumed. After this day, stale food is not to be eaten.<ref name=NDTV/>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Hindu festivals]]

Sheetala Ashtami - Revision history

->Yngvadottir: Short description changed: Indian Festival -> Hindu festival. Capitalization, plus religious, not national. (This edit is not an endorsement of the WMF, whose promotion of Wikidata makes it necessary.)