North IndiaVrataShivaHindi · North India (purnimanta) · South & West India (amanta)
Shravan — Sawan in the North — is the monsoon month held most sacred to Lord Shiva, kept with Monday fasts (Sawan Somwar Vrat), jalabhishek and the Kanwar Yatra. When it starts and ends depends on the reckoning: the North's purnimanta Sawan begins the day after Guru Purnima, while the amanta Shravana of the South and West begins about a fortnight later.
When: The lunar month after Ashadha, in July–September. Purnimanta (North India): begins the day after Ashadha/Guru Purnima and ends on Raksha Bandhan (Shravana Purnima). Amanta (South, West, Nepal): begins after Ashadha Amavasya, about a fortnight later, and ends on Shravana Amavasya
In 2026 (Ottawa): Purnimanta Sawan: 30 July – 27 August · Sawan Somwar Mondays 3, 10, 17, 24 August. Amanta Shravana: 13 August – 10 September · Shravan Somvar Mondays 17, 24, 31 August and 7 September. (Computed for Eastern time; the live Panchang shows the current masa for any date and city)
Deity: Lord Shiva — with Parvati and the Nag devatas honoured within the month
Observance: Monday fasts with Shiva puja and jalabhishek; Mangala Gauri vrat on Tuesdays; rudrabhishek, Shiva temple visits, Kanwar Yatra; many begin the Solah Somwar (sixteen-Monday) vrat in Sawan
Tradition anchors the month to the Samudra Manthan, the churning of the ocean. When the terrible poison halahala surfaced and threatened creation, Shiva drank it and held it in his throat, becoming Neelkanth, the blue-throated. The devas poured cooling Ganga water over him to soothe the burning — and that gesture is what Sawan re-enacts every year. Through the month devotees carry water to Shiva and pour it over the linga as jalabhishek, from a lota of Ganga jal in a neighbourhood mandir to the barefoot lakhs of the Kanwar Yatra carrying river water hundreds of kilometres to their home shrines. The month's Mondays — Shiva's own day — concentrate this devotion. Tradition also holds that Parvati completed her long tapasya in this month and won Shiva as her husband, which is why Sawan is equally a month of Gauri worship, and why its vrats are dear to women praying for a good husband or the welfare of the family.
How the Sawan Somwar Vrat is kept
On each Monday of the month the devotee bathes early, wears clean (often white or green) clothes, and worships Shiva with the simple offerings he is said to love: water and milk poured over the linga, bel patra, dhatura, white flowers, bhasma and sandal, with 'Om Namah Shivaya' or the Mahamrityunjaya mantra. The fast itself is typically a phalahar — one meal of fruit, milk and vrat-permitted foods after the evening puja — though customs range from nirjala rigour to a simple sattvic day. Many families read the Solah Somwar or Sawan Somwar vrat katha in the evening. Tuesdays belong to the Mangala Gauri vrat, kept by married women for the long life of the husband. Through the month devotees avoid tamasic food, many take up daily rudrabhishek or Shiva Purana reading, and the bright-half days bring Hariyali Teej, Nag Panchami and finally Raksha Bandhan on the Purnima that closes the North's Sawan.
When Shravan starts and ends — the two reckonings
Both systems observe the same Mondays wherever the fortnights overlap — the difference is only in where the month's boundaries are drawn. In the purnimanta reckoning of North India the month runs full moon to full moon: Sawan begins the day after Ashadha Purnima (Guru Purnima) and ends on Shravana Purnima, the day of Raksha Bandhan. In the amanta reckoning of Maharashtra, Gujarat, the South and Nepal the month runs new moon to new moon: Shravana begins after Ashadha Amavasya — about fifteen days after the North has already begun — and ends on Shravana Amavasya (Pithori Amavasya). In 2026, for Ottawa's Eastern time, purnimanta Sawan runs 30 July to 27 August with Sawan Somwar on 3, 10, 17 and 24 August; amanta Shravana runs 13 August to 10 September with Shravan Somvar on 17, 24, 31 August and 7 September. For any other year or city, the Panchang page on this site computes the running masa and paksha for the exact date, and the date links below always show the next upcoming anchors of the month.
Keeping Sawan in Ottawa & Canada
Sawan adapts easily to Canadian life because its core is a weekly home observance. The Monday fast, the evening jalabhishek at the home altar, bel patra if an Indian grocer stocks it (plain water and white flowers are fully acceptable substitutes), and the katha reading need nothing imported. Ottawa's mandirs hold Sawan Somwar abhishek and rudrabhishek through the month — see our guide to Hindu temples in Ottawa — and many families sponsor an abhishek on at least one Monday. Note that the Ottawa dates computed on this site can differ by a day from India's calendar, since the tithis are calculated for Eastern time; families keeping the fast together across continents usually follow their home panchang for the vrat and this site's dates for local temple visits. The month closes for the North with Raksha Bandhan — rakhi day — which the live date chip below tracks for your location.
Each link opens our computed festival calendar with exact dates and timings for your city.
Questions
Why does Sawan start on different dates in North and South India?
North India counts months full moon to full moon (purnimanta), so Sawan begins right after Guru Purnima. Maharashtra, Gujarat, the South and Nepal count new moon to new moon (amanta), so their Shravana begins about fifteen days later. The bright fortnight — and therefore festivals like Nag Panchami and Raksha Bandhan — fall on the same days in both systems; only the month's name for the dark fortnight differs.
How many Sawan Somwar fasts are there?
Usually four, occasionally five, depending on how many Mondays fall within the month in your reckoning. In 2026 (Ottawa) the purnimanta Sawan Mondays are 3, 10, 17 and 24 August; the amanta Shravan Mondays are 17, 24, 31 August and 7 September.
What can I eat during the Sawan Somwar fast?
Common practice is a phalahar fast: fruit, milk, curd, nuts, and vrat foods such as sabudana, kuttu or singhara flour, with rock salt instead of table salt. Grains, lentils, onion and garlic are avoided. Strictness varies by family — a simple sattvic day with one full meal after the evening puja is a widely accepted form.
Is the Shravan month the same as the Shravana nakshatra?
They are related but not the same thing. The month is named for the Shravana nakshatra because the full moon of this month falls in or near that star. The nakshatra itself is one of the twenty-seven lunar mansions and recurs every month.
Source: Puranic tradition of the Samudra Manthan and the living Somwar vrat practice of North India. Regional versions may vary — this text follows the version most widely used in community worship.