Sawan 2026 Begins Tomorrow: Complete Somvar Vrat Calendar for North and South India
Shravan 2026 starts 30 July in North India with four Somvar vrats on 3, 10, 17 and 24 August. South and West India follow a different calendar entirely — here are both, and why they differ by two weeks.
Shravan — Sawan — begins tomorrow, Thursday 30 July 2026 across North India, and runs until 28 August. If you are planning to keep the Somvar vrat this year, the dates below are the ones to put in your calendar.
One thing to settle first, because it causes more confusion than any other question we get in July: Sawan does not start on the same day across India. That is not an error in someone's panchang. It is two legitimate calendar systems.
Sawan Somvar 2026 — North India
States following the Purnimanta system — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand — observe Shravan from 30 July to 28 August 2026.
Four Mondays fall inside it:
- First Somvar: Monday, 3 August 2026
- Second Somvar: Monday, 10 August 2026
- Third Somvar: Monday, 17 August 2026
- Fourth Somvar: Monday, 24 August 2026
Sawan Somvar 2026 — South and West India
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu follow the Amanta system, where the month ends on the new moon rather than the full moon. Their Shravan runs roughly 13 August to 11 September 2026.
Their Somvar dates are:
- First Somvar: Monday, 17 August 2026
- Second Somvar: Monday, 24 August 2026
- Third Somvar: Monday, 31 August 2026
- Fourth Somvar: Monday, 7 September 2026
Why the two-week gap exists
Both systems use identical tithis and identical nakshatras. The only difference is where they draw the boundary of the month.
In the Purnimanta system the month ends at Purnima (full moon), so the new month begins the day after — which is why North India starts Sawan on 30 July, the day after today's Guru Purnima. In the Amanta system the month ends at Amavasya (new moon), pushing the same named month roughly two weeks later.
Neither is more correct. Follow the tradition of your family and region, and do not let a differing calendar on some website talk you out of it.
Somvar vrat vidhi
- Bathe before sunrise. If you can reach a Shiva temple in the morning, go.
- Offer water or milk to the Shiva lingam — a thin, steady stream, not a flood.
- Add bel patra (three-leaf clusters, smooth side down), white flowers, and akshat.
- Chant Om Namah Shivaya, or the Mahamrityunjaya mantra if you have been initiated into it.
- Keep the fast until evening. Most observers take one satvik meal after evening puja; fruit and milk through the day is acceptable.
- Avoid onion, garlic, non-vegetarian food and alcohol for the whole month, not only Mondays.
What not to offer
Classical practice excludes a few items from Shiva puja that people commonly get wrong: tulsi leaves, ketaki flowers, turmeric, and coconut water are traditionally not offered on a Shiva lingam. Bel patra, dhatura, white flowers, milk, honey and plain water are.
Sixteen Mondays and Solah Somvar
If you are starting the Solah Somvar vrat — the sixteen-Monday observance usually taken for marriage or for a specific resolution — Shravan is the traditional month to begin. Starting tomorrow's month means your first Somvar is 3 August, and the sixteenth falls in late November 2026.
Also happening this month
Shravan 2026 is unusually busy. Mars enters Gemini on 2 August, changing the tone of the month, and eclipse season opens with a total solar eclipse on 12 August. Our August 2026 roundup puts the whole month in one place.
A note on proportion, since Sawan attracts a lot of it: the vrat is a discipline, not a transaction. It is meant to make you steadier for a month. If fasting is medically unwise for you, the tradition itself permits substitution — offer water at the temple, keep the conduct rules, and skip the fast. That is a complete observance, not a lesser one.