Shiva, the pipal & the ancestors
Somvati Amavasya
The rare Monday new moon: snan, pipal parikrama, and the ancestors doubly near.
Tithi: Any amavasya that falls on a Monday
In the simplest words
A rare new moon that lands on a Monday: Shiva's day and the ancestors' day meet, making its quiet prayers doubly dear.
The story & purpose
When the moon's own day carries no moon at all, tradition reads a special stillness: Somvati Amavasya, arriving only twice or thrice a year. Tradition, citing Bhishma's counsel to Yudhishthira in the Mahabharata, holds that bathing in sacred rivers this day brings prosperity and frees the ancestors; some count its merit equal to a solar-eclipse snan.
The rest of the story
Married women circle the pipal, Vishnu at its root, Shiva in its crown, the ancestors in its breath, with 108 threads of raw cotton winding the trunk for the husband's years. It is the quietest of vrats: water, a tree, silence, and lineage.
What is done
Snan-daan
River or tirtha bath at dawn; til, food, and clothing given after.
Pipal parikrama
108 rounds (or as able) with thread, water at the root, and a lamp.
Pitru tarpan
Water and sesame southward for the ancestors, the amavasya's standing duty.
Maun & jaap
Om Namah Shivaya in silence, the Monday's own mantra.
Best timings
Snan and parikrama in the morning; tarpan before midday.
Exact muhurat varies by city and tradition; for the precise hour, consult a local panchang for your location.
Worth knowing
2026 has no Somvati at all after August; the next three fall in 2027 (8 Mar, 2 Aug, 27 Dec).
August 2027's Somvati doubles as a Shravan somvar, a rare coincidence of vrats.
Haridwar and Prayag draw lakhs of bathers on a big Somvati, among the year's largest bathing days outside the Kumbh.