Sharad Purnima is held to be the brightest full moon of the year, and the custom is to leave a bowl of kheer in the moonlight all night and eat it in the morning.

The moonlight is said to be medicinal on this one night, and Ayurvedic practice treats the dish as cooling. It falls at the end of the monsoon when the air has cleared, which is a real reason the Moon looks better — the tradition is describing an atmospheric fact and attributing it to the Moon.