Mithila culture is well known for its Language, Paag (head gear), Madhubani painting, food and festivals. Jur Sital/ Sheetal” is one of the most popular festival from Mithila region in the state of Bihar, India. It is also known as Aakhar Bochhor falls on 15th April. The government of Bihar officially declares the 15th April as Maithili new year.
The festival is celebrated for two days; first day called “Satuani” customarily Biharis eat sattu (fried Bengal gram powder) as “Salted Sattu Drink”, “Sattu Laddu”, “Sattu Sweet Drink” etc. On this day Sattu is the basic ingredient used for the orcasion. Dishes like “Litti-Cokha” and “Paratha” also prepared on the day.
The 2nd day of festival is called Jur Sital, which is also called “Basiya Pavani”. The day begin with the elders of the family store water one day before in a earthen pot for overnight; and sprinkle
same water on family members head in the morning. It signifies that they give blessings to stay cool (Jurail rahu, thandhail rahu), also sprinkle water to small and big plant and on pathway to protect nature. The reason behind this is to cool down environment. Some People donate pitcher with full of water and fruits.
Custom is that kitchen is closed on the day through out Mithila region. Stoves are allowed to rest. Stoves are cleaned and worshipped, it is offered “Kadhi-Bari “,which is cooked one day before.
Housewives spend hours to prepare varieties of food for the day and extra for next day.
The jur -sital Thali consists of following recipes, which is highlighted below, just click on…
- Kadhi-Bari
- Steamed Rice
- Sattu Litti
- Sattu Paratha
- Aaloo (Potato) Chokha
- Baigan (Egg Plant) Chokha
- Tomato Salsa
- Tarua-Timan-Tarkari
- Drumstick sabji
- Kachchi Kairy Aamgura
- Poori
- Dalpoori
- Gulab Jamun
- Malpua etc.
Jur Sital/ Sheetal Thali 
Jur Sital/ Sheetal Thali 
Jur Sital/ Sheetal Thali
Jur Sital/ Sheetal Thali by Nag Ratna Sahu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.