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.
Married women circle the pipal — Vishnu at its root, Shiva in its crown, the ancestors in its breath — 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.