Sawan Somwar 2026: All Monday Dates & Vrat Calendar

Every year, as the monsoon clouds gather over North India, devotees begin to ask the same warm question: when does Sawan start, and on which days do the Sawan Somwar fasts fall? Sawan — the fifth month of the Hindu lunar calendar, also called Shravan — is the holiest month of the whole year for the worship of Lord Shiva, and its Mondays (Somwar) are the most beloved fasting days in all of Shaivite devotion. This guide gives you a clear, plain-language calendar of Sawan 2026: when the month begins and ends, exactly how many Sawan Somwar there are, the date of each one, and the other key dates around them — all phrased according to the panchang, so you can plan your vrat, your temple visit, or your Kanwar Yatra with confidence.

When does Sawan 2026 begin and end?

According to the North-Indian Purnimanta panchang followed across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal, Sawan 2026 is expected to begin on 30 July 2026 and to conclude with the Shravan Purnima (Raksha Bandhan) around 28 August 2026. In this Purnimanta reckoning the month runs from the day after Ashadha Purnima to the next full moon, which is why North India's Sawan starts in late July. Do note that these dates follow the movement of the tithi (lunar day), and the exact start can shift by a day depending on your local panchang and sunrise, so always confirm the tithi for your city.

A gentle point of confusion worth clearing up: in the Amanta calendar followed in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and much of South India, Shravan begins a little later — around mid-August in 2026 — because that tradition counts the month from the new moon. So if a friend in Mumbai or Bengaluru tells you Sawan starts on a different date, both of you are right; you are simply following two different, equally ancient reckonings.

How many Sawan Somwar are there in 2026?

In 2026, according to the North-Indian Purnimanta panchang, there are expected to be four Sawan Somwar — four Mondays that fall within the holy month of Shravan. Four is the most common count in a normal year; in special years with an extra (adhik) month, the number can rise to eight, but 2026 is an ordinary year, so four Mondays of Shiva await the devotees. Each one is an opportunity to keep the fast, offer jal on the Shivling, and draw a little closer to Bhole Nath.

Sawan Somwar 2026: the full list of Monday dates

Here are the four Sawan Somwar of 2026, expected according to the North-Indian panchang. Please treat these as the anticipated dates and confirm the tithi with a reliable local panchang, as the exact days can move slightly:

• 🔱First Sawan Somwar — expected Monday, 3 August 2026.
• 🔱Second Sawan Somwar — expected Monday, 10 August 2026.
• 🔱Third Sawan Somwar — expected Monday, 17 August 2026.
• 🔱Fourth Sawan Somwar — expected Monday, 24 August 2026.

Many devotees keep all four Mondays; others keep whichever they can, or begin the Solah Somwar (sixteen-Monday) vow during this most auspicious season. Whichever you choose, the spirit is the same — a day given wholly to Shiva, kept with a clear sankalp taken at dawn.

The other key Sawan 2026 dates to know

Sawan is not only about Mondays. The month is threaded with other beloved observances, and knowing them helps you plan the whole season. According to the panchang, the key expected dates around Sawan 2026 are:

• 🔱Sawan begins (Shravan month start) — expected 30 July 2026.
• 🔱Mangala Gauri Vrat (Tuesdays of Sawan, kept especially by married women) — expected on the Tuesdays 4, 11, 18 and 25 August 2026.
• 🔱Hariyali Amavasya (new moon, tree-planting and shraddh) — expected around 12 August 2026.
• 🔱Hariyali Teej — expected around 15 August 2026.
• 🔱Nag Panchami (worship of serpents, sacred to Shiva) — expected around 17 August 2026.
• 🔱Sawan Shivratri (the great night of jalabhishek, the culmination for many kanwariyas) — expected around 11 August 2026, on the Krishna Paksha Chaturdashi of Sawan.
• 🔱Shravan Purnima / Raksha Bandhan (end of Sawan) — expected around 28 August 2026.

These sit within the broader flow of the month, and a few, such as Nag Panchami and a Sawan Somwar, may fall close together — a happy overlap that makes those days especially charged with devotion.

When is Sawan Shivratri 2026?

Sawan Shivratri — distinct from the great Maha Shivratri of Phalguna — falls on the Chaturdashi of the dark fortnight (Krishna Paksha) of Shravan. In 2026 it is expected around 11 August. This is the night when the Kanwar Yatra reaches its climax: lakhs of kanwariyas who have carried Ganga jal from Haridwar, Gaumukh or Sultanganj offer the sacred water on their local Shivling in the pre-dawn hours. If you are planning a jalabhishek or a temple visit, Sawan Shivratri is the single most significant night of the month — but please confirm the exact tithi and the shubh muhurat for your city with a local panchang.

Why the Mondays of Sawan matter so much

Monday is ruled by the Moon — Som — and the crescent moon adorns Lord Shiva's own matted locks, so the day carries a natural nearness to Mahadev. When Mondays fall within Sawan, Shiva's own month, that nearness is doubled. The scriptures tell of the samudra manthan, when the deadly halahal poison rose from the churning ocean and Shiva drank it to save all creation, holding it in his throat until it turned blue — earning him the name Neelkanth. To cool the burning, the devas offered him water, milk and bel leaves. This is why offering cool jal on the Shivling in Sawan, and fasting on its Mondays, is believed to please him more than at any other time of year.

In Sawan, a single lota of water poured on the Shivling with love is said to weigh more than mountains of gold offered without it.

How to keep the Sawan Somwar Vrat

The fast is kept in whatever degree of strictness your health and situation allow — sincerity matters far more than severity. The common forms are the nirjala vrat (without even water, only for the healthy), the phalahar vrat (fruits, milk and permitted vrat foods such as sabudana, singhare ka atta and kuttu, with sendha namak), and the ek-samay bhojan (a single sattvic meal after the evening puja). The day begins with an early bath and a clear sankalp, is spent with the mind on Shiva and the chant of 'Om Namah Shivaya', and ends with the paran — breaking the fast after the evening aarti. Offer water, milk and bel patra on the Shivling, and remember the age-old cautions: never offer tulsi, turmeric, ketaki flowers or coconut water to the Shivling.

Sawan, the Kanwar Yatra and the road

For the lakhs of kanwariyas who walk through Sawan, the Monday fast and the yatra become one continuous act of worship — the same purity, the same restraint, the same water carried at last to a Shivling. The walk is long and hard, often barefoot, and the highways of Delhi, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh fill with rivers of saffron all through the month. This is where the sewa shivirs come in: free food, rest, water, medical aid and stands to hang the kanwar so it never touches the ground.

Our own Shiv Kavar Samiti runs such a free Kanwar Sewa Shivir on NH-8 at Mahipalpur, New Delhi, and has done so for over thirty years — open day and night through the busiest stretch of Sawan, serving pure vrat-friendly bhojan and clean water to every bhakt at no charge. If this calendar has helped you plan your Sawan, you might consider helping the shivir serve the bhakts who walk past our doors.

How you can be part of the seva

Every plate of langar, every glass of water and every night the shivir stays lit is made possible by the daan of well-wishers. If you would like to contribute, you can donate online at our /donate page through Razorpay's secure checkout, or by bank transfer to our Punjab National Bank account (A/C 0149000104323988, IFSC PUNB0014900, Khan Market branch). To offer ration and supplies, to volunteer as a sewadar, or simply to ask how to reach us, message us on WhatsApp at +91 98189 08237. Whether you keep the vrat at home or walk the yatra on the road, may this Sawan draw you nearer to Bhole Nath. Har Har Mahadev.