All About Sawan Month and Sawan Somvaar Vrat: Significance, Puja vidhi, for Somvar vrats

The Sawan or Shravan month is the fifth month of the Hindu calendar and coincides with July of the Gregorian calendar. Since the ruling Nakshatra on the Full Moon Day for this month is the Shravana, this month is also called the Shravan Month.

During this time, every monday or 'Somvar', devotees visit the temple and offer flowers, milk, holy water to Lord Shiva.  Some even, observe fasts on Tuesdays, which was known as ‘Mangala Gauri Vrat’.

We all know that Lord Shiva loves the month of Shravan and during this time he becomes very happy by worshipping him. It is believed that Mahadev finds the month of Shravan the most favourite month of the year because the month of Shravan is expected to receive maximum rainfall, which cools the hot body of Shiva. 

It is believed that on Prabodhani Ekadashi (the beginning of Sawan), Lord Vishnu, the maintainer of the universe, freed from all responsibilities, leaves to rest in his divine house, Patalloka, and entrusts all his work to Mahadev. Lord Shiva, sitting on the earth with Parvati, understands the pain and pain of the people of the earth and fulfils their wishes, hence the month of Sawan is special.

Sawan Somvaar Vrats Are of 3 Types:

The vrats kept on the Mondays of the auspicious month, the ‘solah  Somvaar vrats’ that are started from the first Monday of this month and the ‘Somya Pradosh’ vrats that are kept till the evening in this month. 

The fast is kept by all, to invoke Lord Shiva’s blessing, by the women desirous of a safe and protected household and by the unmarried girls who aspire for an ideal husband.

On the day of the fast, the devotee should wake up before sunrise and cleanse themselves before the pooja or rituals by taking a bath. Then the  ‘Somvaar Vrat Katha’ should be recited with devotion. If possible they must also visit a Shiva temple and after offering obeisance, worship the ‘linga’.Throughout the day, only fruits and milk should be consumed and only one meal should be eaten after sunset. Lord Shiva is also called ‘Bhole Shankar’-easy to please. He is the divine power that will protect us from the worldly evils.