Somvati Amavasya is a new-moon day that falls on a Monday — a conjunction the Hindi belt holds especially sacred to Shiva and to the ancestors. Whenever it occurs, women keep a fast and circumambulate the pipal tree, and lakhs bathe at river tirthas such as Haridwar and Prayagraj.
When: Any Amavasya (new-moon day) that falls on a Monday — typically one to three times a year, in no fixed month
Where: Across Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar; grandest at river tirthas — Haridwar, Prayagraj, Ujjain, Garh Mukteshwar
Deity: Shiva (Monday is Somvar, the moon's and Shiva's day), with tarpan offered to the pitrs (ancestors)
Observance: Holy bath at a river or at home, fast kept mainly by married women, 108 circumambulations of the pipal tree with thread, tarpan and daan
Regional name: Somvati Amavasya (Hindi belt) · Somvari Amavasya · counted the most meritorious of all Amavasyas
When the moon's day meets the moonless night
Amavasya, the moonless tithi, is the month's day of the ancestors, when tarpan and shraddha reach the departed most directly. Monday — Somvar — is the day of Soma, the moon, and of Shiva who wears the crescent. When the two coincide, tradition holds that the merit of bathing, fasting and charity multiplies beyond counting; the Mahabharata is remembered in the Hindi belt as praising a bath at a tirtha on this conjunction, and Bhishma is said to have described its greatness to Yudhishthira. Because the coincidence obeys no fixed month, Somvati Amavasya arrives unannounced by season — some years bring one, others two or three — and each is treated as a small pilgrimage day. The day gathers three devotions into one: Shiva worship proper to Monday, ancestor rites proper to Amavasya, and the married woman's prayer for her husband's long life.
How the day is observed
The observance begins before sunrise with snan — ideally in a flowing river, and at Haridwar's Har Ki Pauri or the Sangam at Prayagraj the ghats fill from the early hours. Those far from a tirtha add a few drops of Ganga jal to their bathing water at home and remember the sacred rivers. Married women keep a fast through the day and perform the pipal puja: the sacred fig is watered with milk and water, wound with raw cotton thread, and circumambulated — 108 times where strength allows — with the prayer for the husband's long life and the family's welfare, since Vishnu, Shiva and the pitrs are all held to dwell in the pipal. Tarpan of water and black sesame is offered to the ancestors, and daan follows: food, clothing or dakshina to the needy. Many visit a Shiva temple for jalabhishek, and the fast is broken after the evening worship.
Keeping Somvati Amavasya in Ottawa and Canada
This is an observance of tithi and weekday, so the first task in Canada is simply knowing when it falls — the site's Panchang computes the Amavasya for Ottawa's timezone, and the Vedic calendar page lets you check which new moons land on a Monday. At home, the day can be kept quite fully: a bath with a few drops of Ganga jal, the day's fast, tarpan for the ancestors offered facing south with water and black til, and a visit to a local Shiva mandir for abhishek if one is open on a weekday. Pipal trees do not grow here; families substitute a potted ficus or simply perform the thread-and-lamp worship before a picture, keeping the count of circumambulations around the home altar. Charity translates directly — a donation to a food bank carries the spirit of anna-daan faithfully.
Each link opens our computed festival calendar with exact dates and timings for your city.
Questions
How often does Somvati Amavasya occur?
There is no fixed schedule — it is simply whichever Amavasya falls on a Monday. Most years bring one to three such conjunctions. Check the Panchang on this site: every Amavasya is listed with its weekday for Ottawa's local time.
Why is the pipal tree circumambulated on this day?
Tradition holds that Vishnu dwells in the pipal's roots, Shiva in its crown and the ancestors in its shade, so honouring the tree reaches all three at once. Married women wind cotton thread around the trunk while circling it, praying for their husband's long life — 108 rounds is the classical count.
Is Somvati Amavasya only for married women?
No. The women's fast and pipal puja are its best-known face, but the day equally belongs to everyone for holy bathing, Shiva worship and tarpan to the ancestors. Anyone may bathe, donate and offer jal to Shiva on this day.
Source: North Indian household and tirtha tradition of the Hindi belt. Regional versions may vary — this text follows the version most widely used in community worship.