Sawan Somvar 2027
19 July – 17 August 2027

Sawan Somvar are the Mondays that fall within Shravan (Sawan), the month tradition gives to Shiva, and each is kept as a vrat for him. Monday is already his day through the year, so the Mondays that fall in his own month are held to be the most fruitful for that vrat, which is why many begin the sixteen-Monday fast, the solah somvar vrat, on the very first Sawan Somvar.

Tradition ties the month to the Samudra Manthan, the churning of the ocean by devas and asuras for amrit, told in the Puranas, in which the halahal poison that rose before the nectar threatened to destroy the three worlds, and Shiva drank it to save them, holding it in his throat, which turned blue, hence his name Neelkanth. Sawan is kept as the month devotees cool that poison with jalabhishek, pouring water and milk over the Shivling.

• Shivling or picture of Shiva
• Bel patra (bilva leaves)
• Dhatura flower
• White flowers
• Milk and Ganga jal
• Honey
• Akshat and kalava
• Incense and diya
• Shiv Chalisa text

Source: Bhagavata Purana and Vishnu Purana, the Samudra Manthan

When the devas and asuras together churned the ocean of milk for amrit, using Mount Mandara as the churning rod and the serpent Vasuki as the rope, with Vishnu himself steadying the mountain as the tortoise Kurma, many things rose from the sea before the nectar: among them, first, the deadly halahal poison, spreading smoke that threatened to choke every world.

No one else could bear it, so the gods turned to Shiva, who, to save the three worlds, drank the poison himself. Parvati, fearing for him, pressed his throat so it would go no further than his neck, and the poison stayed there, turning his throat blue, which is why he is called Neelkanth.

Devotees since have kept Shravan, when the monsoon’s waters are at their fullest, as the month to pour water and milk over Shiva in jalabhishek, cooling the poison he once bore for the sake of all the worlds.

What to do

• Pour the jalabhishek slowly and without hurry, since the pouring itself, done with attention, is held to be the heart of this puja.
• Decide at the first Sawan Somvar itself if you mean to keep all sixteen, since the solah somvar vrat is begun with that resolve.
• Chant with attention to the meaning rather than only the count, since the vrat is kept for devotion, not for a number.
• Keep each Monday’s fast at whatever strictness your health allows across the weeks, and follow a doctor’s word if you are pregnant, elderly or unwell.

What to avoid

• Avoid non-vegetarian food and alcohol through Sawan, not only on the Mondays, since many homes keep the whole month for Shiva.
• By custom, haldi and kumkum are usually kept for a goddess beside Shiva rather than offered to him directly; follow your family’s own custom here.

Through Sawan, kanwariyas across North India carry Ganga jal on foot, often for long distances, to pour over Shiva in their hometown temples, with the crowds thickest on the Mondays. In parts of the south, Shravana month is kept with its own Tuesday vrat, Mangala Gauri Vratam, for Parvati.