🪔 Puja vidhi

🕉 Somvar Vrat (Sawan Mondays and Solah Somvar) Puja Vidhi — step by step

✍️ Jyotishacharya Aditya Dhar Dwivedi · 🔎 Last reviewed: 17 September 2026 · 🧮 Calculation method

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.

How to do Somvar Vrat (Sawan Mondays and Solah Somvar) — the steps

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.
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.
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.
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.
The meal: one sattvic meal after the puja (churma/kheer/fruit), nothing at night (strict) or fruit; normal the next morning.
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.
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.
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)

🛍 Puja samagri

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

Rules — do's and don'ts

✅ Do

Water and bel leaves on the Shivalinga in the morning, the puja, katha and aarti in the evening Pradosh; 'Om Namah Shivaya'
Solah Somvar: the bhog of churma and the same as prasad, 16 consecutive, the udyapan on the 17th; Sawan: the shivamuth/jalabhishek
One sattvic meal/fruit; without salt (Solah Somvar — custom); no sleeping in the day
Parvati puja (suhag items) for girls and married women; the gift of white things (Moon)
The rules on the kanwar/temple journey — purity, barefoot (custom), safety

❌ Don't

No Tulsi, ketaki, turmeric, sindoor, conch water or coconut water (some customs) on the Shivalinga; no torn bel leaflets
No abandoning Solah Somvar midway (if missed, restart — the strict custom); no getting up without taking the prasad (churma)
No meat, liquor, onion-garlic, brinjal or leafy greens in Sawan (the Chaturmas rules), no cutting hair and beard (some)
No anger, quarrels or lies on the vrat day; no black clothes (in Shiva puja)
No intoxicants, noise or unsafe conduct on the kanwar; no forced waterless fast

Vrat katha

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 p… Read the full katha →

Frequently asked questions

When are the Sawan Mondays in {Y}?

The dates marked 'Shravana (Sawan) Somvar' in the list above are the Sawan Mondays (the Purnimanta Shravana — north India; 4 or 5); the Amanta Shravana of Maharashtra-Gujarat-the south begins 15 days later — their Shravana Mondays are the list's Shravana Shukla Mondays plus the following ones (Purnimanta Bhadrapada Krishna, i.e. Amanta Shravana Krishna); if there is an Adhika month the Mondays of 'Adhika Shravana' are counted separately.

When to begin the Solah Somvar vrat and what are the rules?

From a Monday of any Shukla Paksha (Shravana, Kartika, Margashirsha, or best from the first Monday of Sawan); 16 consecutive Mondays — the morning abhishek, the evening Shiva-Parvati puja, the katha, the bhog of churma (wheat-ghee-jaggery) and eating the same as prasad oneself (share too), one meal (many homes without salt); the udyapan on the 17th Monday — feeding 16 couples/Brahmins, havan, charity; if menstruation comes, someone else in the house does the puja and the count continues (customs differ).

Can salt be eaten in the Monday vrat?

In the ordinary/Sawan Monday vrat fruit fare with rock salt or one sattvic meal is fine; in Solah Somvar many traditions keep it without salt (sweet — churma-kheer-fruit); the unwell and pregnant take rock salt and fruit-milk — health first; the essence of the vrat is remembrance of Shiva and restraint.

Why do girls keep the Sawan Mondays?

Parvati won Shiva as her husband by penance and the Monday vrat in Shravana — hence girls keep the Sawan Mondays and Solah Somvar for the groom of their choice/one like Shiva; green bangles and mehndi, suhag items for Parvati; in delayed marriage (Mars/Saturn/7th-house dosha in the chart) this vrat is the folk-famous remedy — with an astrological check.

What is the shivamuth?

The Sawan Monday custom of Maharashtra — a new bride (the first five years) offers a fistful of grain on the Shivalinga every Sawan Monday — rice on the first Monday, sesame on the second, moong on the third, barley on the fourth, sattu on the fifth; saying 'Shiva Shiva Mahadeva…'; the fast of sabudana-vari; the wish for good fortune and children.

How are the Monday vrat, Soma Pradosh and Somvati Amavasya related?

All three are linked to Shiva and the Moon — the Monday vrat (every Monday/Sawan/Solah), Soma Pradosh (a Trayodashi on Monday — the Pradosh Kaal puja), Somvati Amavasya (an Amavasya on Monday — the peepal circumambulation); if two coincide on one day (a Sawan Monday + Soma Pradosh) it is a great conjunction — the same puja, the fruit multiplied; the Mondays in the list above, Pradosh on the Pradosh page, Somvati on the Amavasya page.

🏠 Somvar Vrat (Sawan Mondays and Solah Somvar) 2026 — date, muhurat, full page · All vrat & festivals