🕉 Somvar Vrat (Sawan Mondays and Solah Somvar) 2026

The next Monday vrat — Shiva's day; the Mondays of Sawan (Shravana) are the greatest, the Solah Somvar vrat for the groom of one's choice/marital fortune; the Shivalinga abhishek, the evening katha and aarti, one meal; the upcoming Mondays and the Sawan Mondays above.

Monday is the day of Lord Shiva (and the Moon — 'Soma'). The Monday vrat is kept in three forms — (1) **Sawan (Shravana) Somvar**: the four or five Mondays of Shravana month, when Shiva dwells on earth — the kanwar, the jalabhishek, crowds of lakhs; (2) **Solah Somvar vrat**: 16 consecutive Mondays from a Monday of any Shukla Paksha — the groom of her choice for a girl, unbroken good fortune for a married woman (Parvati won Shiva through this); (3) **the ordinary Monday vrat** — every Monday for life or by vow.

The vidhi is simple — a morning bath and water and bel leaves on the Shivalinga, fruit/one meal in the day (many homes without salt), Shiva-Parvati puja in the evening/Pradosh, the Monday katha, aarti; the temple jalabhishek every Monday in Sawan and the shivamuth (Maharashtra). Above are the date of the next Monday and the upcoming Mondays (the Sawan Mondays marked separately) — below the vidhi, samagri, katha, food and regional customs of all three vrats.

Significance — why this vrat

Shiva in Sawan: he drank the poison of the churning of the ocean in Shravana, and the gods cooled its burning by pouring water — hence the jalabhishek and kanwar in Sawan; Parvati won Shiva by penance in Shravana; every Monday of Sawan is one of Shiva-Parvati's union — married women in green bangles and mehndi, girls for a groom; the number of Sawan Mondays is 4 or 5 (in the Purnimanta Shravana — north India; the Amanta Shravana of Maharashtra-Gujarat begins 15 days later).

Solah Somvar: the chausar tale of Shiva and Parvati (below) — the priest of Amaravati; on completing 16 Mondays the udyapan on the 17th — feeding 16 couples/Brahmins, churma (of wheat, ghee and jaggery — the distinctive prasad of Solah Somvar), a Shiva havan; famous for obstacles to marriage, delays from Mars/Saturn in the chart, the protection of marital fortune.

The day of the Moon (Soma) — peace of mind, the mother's comfort, pacifying Chandra dosha (the Moon on Shiva's head); Shiva puja + the gift of white things on Monday; when Somvati Amavasya, Soma Pradosh and a Sawan Monday coincide it is a rare great conjunction.

Puja vidhi (step by step)

This is the household vidhi of the Monday vrat — the morning abhishek, the day's fast, the evening puja and katha; the extra rules of the Sawan Mondays and Solah Somvar at the end.

1. Morning: bathe, white/green (Sawan) clothes; sankalp — 'the (Sawan/Solah/ordinary) Somvar vrat, for (wish), one meal/fruit, the meal after the evening puja'; water, milk and bel leaves on the Shivalinga (at home or the temple), 'Om Namah Shivaya' 108 times.
2. During the day: fruit (fruit-milk-sabudana-makhana) or one meal (without salt — many customs in Solah Somvar); no sleeping in the day, japa of Shiva's name, reading the Shiva Purana/Rudrashtakam.
3. The evening (Pradosh — time above) puja: the Shivalinga/Shiva-Parvati picture — the panchamrit-Gangajal abhishek, bel leaves (3 leaflets, face down), datura-aak-shami-bhang-durva, white flowers, sandalwood-bhasma-akshat-sacred thread; suhag items and red flowers for Parvati; remembrance of Ganesha, Kartikeya and Nandi; incense and lamp; naivedya — churma (Solah Somvar), kheer-halwa-fruit.
4. Hear the Monday katha (below — the merchant's son/the chausar tale of Solah Somvar/the Sawan tale); the Shiva Chalisa, the Shiva aarti 'Om Jai Shiv Omkara', the camphor aarti; distribute prasad.
5. The meal: one sattvic meal after the puja (churma/kheer/fruit), nothing at night (strict) or fruit; normal the next morning.
6. Sawan Monday extras: the temple jalabhishek (Gangajal — the kanwar tradition), Rudrabhishek (if possible, special in Sawan), the shivamuth — in Maharashtra one fistful of grain (rice, sesame, moong, barley, sattu — in order) offered to Shiva every Sawan Monday, green bangles and mehndi, the swing; a charity like an udyapan on the last Monday of Sawan.
7. Solah Somvar extras: begin on a Monday of any Shukla Paksha (Shravana-Kartika-Margashirsha best), 16 consecutive Mondays without a gap (no puja during menstruation, but the Monday counts — household custom), the bhog of churma (wheat flour/semolina-ghee-jaggery/sugar) every Monday and the same taken as prasad; the udyapan on the 17th Monday — feeding 16 couples/Brahmins, churma, havan, charity.
8. Women's custom: girls keep the Sawan Mondays/Solah Somvar for the groom of their choice (the worship of Parvati is special), married women for the husband's long life; the pregnant take fruit; the elderly one sattvic meal; if a vrat is missed, count from the next Monday (restart in Solah Somvar — the strict custom).

Puja samagri checklist

The Shiva abhishek + Parvati's suhag + churma + the shivamuth of Sawan — the Monday vrat list.

• A Shivalinga (parad/Narmadeshwar/clay — the parthiva Shivalinga in Sawan) or a Shiva-Parvati picture, wooden seat, white cloth
• Abhishek: water, Gangajal, milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar, sugarcane juice; Rudrabhishek (Sawan) — the priest's materials
• Bel leaves (3 leaflets), datura, aak, shami, bhang, durva, white flowers (jasmine-kaner-datura), red flowers (Parvati)
• Sandalwood, bhasma, akshat, sacred thread, mauli, roli-turmeric-kumkum, perfume, paan-supari-clove
• Parvati: suhag items (green bangles-mehndi-bindi-sindoor-chunari — Sawan)
• Lamp (ghee), incense, camphor, aarti thali, bell and conch (no water from a conch on Shiva)
• Naivedya: churma (wheat flour/semolina + ghee + jaggery/sugar — Solah Somvar), kheer, halwa, fruit (banana-apple), panchmewa, thandai (Sawan)
• Shivamuth (Maharashtra — Sawan Mondays): rice, sesame, moong, barley, sattu — one fistful each in order
• Katha book (the Monday katha/Solah Somvar/the Shiva Chalisa), rudraksha mala; a kanwar (Sawan — to bring Gangajal)

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Vrat katha (the story)

The tale of Solah Somvar: Shiva and Parvati sat down to play chausar at Amaravati (or a temple); Parvati asked the priest 'who will win?' — the priest said 'Shiva' without thinking; Parvati won, and in anger cursed the priest with leprosy; the apsaras told the priest of the Solah Somvar vrat — churma of wheat, ghee and jaggery and Shiva puja for 16 Mondays, the udyapan on the 17th; the priest was healed; Parvati kept the same vrat and brought back the sulking Kartikeya, Kartikeya his lost friend, the friend married a princess (the she-elephant's garland) — then the king found his daughter and son-in-law through this vrat. The lesson — Solah Somvar brings freedom from disease, reunion with friends, marriage, children.

The Monday katha of the merchant's son: a childless merchant kept the vrat every Monday; at Parvati's urging Shiva gave him a son, but with a life of 12 years; the son was sent to Kashi with his uncle; on the way he married a princess; in the 12th year while performing a yajna at Kashi his life left — the uncle wept; Shiva and Parvati passing by revived him at Parvati's urging — 'he is the son of a Monday vrati'; on their return the king accepted daughter and son-in-law, the merchant regained his son. The lesson — the Monday vrat gives children and long life.

The tale of Sawan: Shiva drank the halahala of the churning of the ocean in Shravana, and in the burning of the poison the gods and sages poured Gangajal — hence the water abhishek and kanwar in Sawan (Ravana is regarded as the first kanwariya — Baijnath); Parvati won Shiva as her husband by keeping the Monday vrat in Shravana — hence girls keep the Sawan Mondays; the long life of sage Markandeya came from Monday Shiva worship.

Churma, kheer, fruit and milk, the shivamuth, thandai — the kitchen of Monday and Sawan

One sattvic meal/fruit in the Monday vrat; the distinctive prasad of Solah Somvar is churma (wheat flour/semolina roasted in ghee with jaggery-sugar); kheer-malpua-ghevar-thandai in Sawan, bhang-milk-datura for Shiva (some customs), the shivamuth of Maharashtra; a saltless meal (Solah Somvar — many homes).

• Churma: roast wheat flour/semolina (sava pav) golden in ghee, jaggery/powdered sugar-cardamom-dry fruits — the bhog for Shiva, then the vrati takes the same as prasad (the Solah Somvar rule)
• Kheer (rice/makhana), halwa, malpua, ghevar-feeni (Sawan — Rajasthan-Haryana), thandai/bhang-milk (for Shiva), panchamrit
• Fasting fare: fruit (banana-apple-mango-jamun — Sawan), milk, curd, sabudana khichdi, kuttu, makhana; one meal without salt (strict) or with rock salt
• Shivamuth (Maharashtra — rice on the first Sawan Monday, sesame on the second, moong on the third, barley on the fourth, sattu on the fifth) + the fasting meal of sabudana-vari
• Regional: Bihar-Jharkhand (the Deoghar kanwar) — the sattvic langar of the kanwariyas, thekua; Tamil (Somavaram/Chandravaram) — payasam-vada for Nandi; Gujarat (Shravan Somvar) — faral, Somnath darshan; Bengal (Monday Shiva puja) — milk-batasha-chira
• Udyapan (the 17th Monday): churma-poori-sabzi-kheer for 16 couples/Brahmins, charity

Regional customs

The kanwar and Sawan Mondays of the north, the shivamuth of Maharashtra, the Somnath of Gujarat, the Deoghar of Bihar, the Monday Nandi of the south — the customs of Shiva's day.

Do's and don'ts

Frequently asked questions

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Also read: Pradosh vrat (Soma Pradosh) · Maha Shivratri · Hariyali Teej (Sawan) · Amavasya (Somvati)

⚠️ This description follows traditional vidhi and folk belief; the custom of your family and region comes first. The Sawan Mondays are by the Purnimanta reckoning (north India) — a difference of 15 days in Amanta regions; do not keep a waterless fast in ill health.

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