Hindu observances · सोमवार व्रत

Somvar Vrat
what is eaten, and how to hold it

Almanac entry

सोमवार व्रतSomvar Vrat

Hindu observances · Moderate · dates announced locally

Every Monday, with the Mondays of Shravan kept most widely of all.

The struck span is the part of the day held without food, from sunrise to evening puja, as commonly observed. Households differ, and where they differ the difference is the practice, not an error.

SOURCE·Published accounts of Somvar Vrat as commonly observed·customs differ by family, region and sampradaya·REVIEWED JUL 2026

How long Somvar Vrat runs

900–1,100kcal

One serving of each food listed below, ±10% for the hand that cooks it. A scale check, not a target. The Monday fast for Shiva. Usually a single-meal day. Many eat once, after the evening puja; others keep phalahar through the day and eat in the evening.

As the dataset states it: Sunrise until the evening puja, most commonly.

SOURCE·Published vrat traditions + IFCT 2017·Somvar Vrat entry·REVIEWED JUL 2026

What Somvar Vrat is

Somvar vrat is dedicated to Shiva and is among the most widely kept weekly fasts in India, particularly through the month of Shravan when the Mondays draw enormous observance.

As a weekly pattern, it is the observance that most resembles a structured intermittent-fasting routine — a long daily fast with one evening meal, repeated. That makes it the easiest one to plan around and the easiest to get wrong through the composition of that single meal.

Customs vary. The strictness ranges from a full phalahar day to simply satvik food with one meal. Shravan Mondays are often kept more strictly than the rest of the year.

How this entry is drawn, and how the food is counted

The observance is read from published accounts of Somvar Vrat and written as commonly observed — never as required, never as correct. Where households differ, the entry says they differ.
The arc above places the observed span between named stations of the day — sunrise, midday, sunset, moonrise — and never between times. Sehri, iftar, moonrise and sunset are local and religiously significant, and this site publishes none of them.
The length is taken from the range the dataset itself states, as a range. Where the length turns on latitude and season, no duration is printed at all.
Food energy is per the serving each item is really eaten in, from IFCT 2017 (ICMR–NIN) where the table has the food, and from a named alternative where it does not.
Every food is reconciled against Atwater factors on each build, and a page that fails to reconcile does not ship.

serving kcal  =  per-100 g kcal × (serving g ÷ 100)
energy check  =  4·protein + 4·carbohydrate + 9·fat   (±15%, ±20% high-fibre)
day shape     =  observed span, station → station   (no clock times, ever)

Data & method in full →

What is customarily eaten, and what is set aside

Described as commonly observed. Your own family's practice is the one that applies.

Commonly eaten

Fruit, milk and curd through the day
One satvik meal after the evening puja
Sendha namak where a phalahar day is kept

Customarily set aside

Meat, fish, eggs, onion, garlic and alcohol
Grains and pulses, in phalahar observances

SOURCE·Published accounts of Somvar Vrat·reported, not prescribed; regional practice varies and the variation is the practice·REVIEWED JUL 2026

The food, with the numbers

Foods commonly associated with Somvar Vrat, at the serving each is really eaten in. Every one has its own page with the full breakdown.

Commonly eaten during Somvar Vrat — calories and macros per real serving. IFCT 2017 · JUL 2026
Food	One serving is	Calories	Protein	Carbs
പശുവിൻ പാൽ (ഫുൾ ക്രീം)	1 glass · 200 g	124 kcal	6.4 g	9.0 g
Curd (Dahi)	1 katori · 150 g	90 kcal	4.7 g	4.5 g
Banana	1 medium banana · 100 g	105 kcal	1.3 g	24.0 g
Makhana (Fox Nuts), raw	1 katori · 25 g	87 kcal	2.4 g	19.2 g
Samak Rice Pulao	1 katori · 150 g	189 kcal	3.0 g	30.6 g
Boiled Potato	1 medium potato · 120 g	84 kcal	1.8 g	17.9 g
Paneer	1 portion · 50 g	133 kcal	9.2 g	2.0 g
Almonds (Badam)	10 almonds · 12 g	72 kcal	2.5 g	1.3 g
Fruit Chaat	1 plate · 200 g	114 kcal	1.6 g	25.4 g

One serving of each of these 9 items would come to about 997 kcal — a scale check, not a menu. Somvar Vrat is not a calorie target and this table is not a plan.

What the vrat foods cost, counted per serving rather than per 100 g.

SOURCE·Published vrat traditions + IFCT 2017·per stated serving weight·REVIEWED JUL 2026

How to hold it without wrecking the week

This is the part nobody publishes well. None of it asks you to change the observance — training, sleep and meal timing are the variables you control, and the fast is not.

Training

Weekly and predictable, which makes it the easiest to plan for. Most people put the hardest session of the week on a different day and keep Monday for lighter work or technique — that is a scheduling choice, not a change to the observance.

Sleep

One evening meal at a normal hour has little effect on sleep. A very large one right before bed does.

Blood sugar

A weekly single-meal day is a regular pattern, so it is worth setting up properly with your doctor once rather than improvising it 52 times. That is the whole point of it being weekly.

Hydration

Most versions permit water freely. Take it — a long day fast without fluid is a much larger physiological event than one with.

The specific risk with Somvar Vrat

Low for healthy adults. Repeated weekly, though, the medication-timing question becomes more important rather than less.

ആരൊക്കെ വ്രതം എടുക്കരുത് · വ്രതവും രക്തത്തിലെ പഞ്ചസാരയും · വ്രതത്തിനിടയിലെ ജലാംശം · Sources

Questions asked about Somvar Vrat

What should the one meal contain?

If your observance permits dairy, protein is the thing most often missing — curd, paneer or milk alongside whatever else is prepared. A single meal built entirely on potato, sabudana and fried food leaves the week short on protein 52 times a year, which is enough to matter.

Are Shravan Mondays different?

They are kept more widely and often more strictly, and for many people they are five consecutive weeks of the observance rather than an occasional one. That is closer to a Navratri-scale pattern than to a single fast day.

Related observances

Sharad NavratriNine days, the longest vrat most people keep Chaitra NavratriSpring Navratri, ending at Ram Navami EkadashiTwice a month, the most frequently kept vrat of all Nirjala EkadashiWithout water — the most demanding fast in the Hindu year Karva ChauthSunrise to moonrise, kept without water in its full form Maha ShivratriA day fast followed by a night of jagran Paryushan ParvaEight or ten days of the most structured fasting in India Ayambil OliNine days of a single bland meal Ramzan (Ramadan) RozaA month of daily fasting from dawn to sunset

Guides that apply here

ആരൊക്കെ വ്രതം എടുക്കരുത്വ്രതത്തിനിടയിലെ ജലാംശം Training while fasting Breaking a fast വ്രതവും രക്തത്തിലെ പഞ്ചസാരയും Fasting and sleep Protein during a vrat Lighter vrat food, same rules

SOURCE·Published vrat traditions + IFCT 2017·observance accounts and food composition·REVIEWED JUL 2026

Practices are described as commonly observed; customs differ by family, region, community and sampradaya, and this site is not an authority on any of them. Food values come from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR–NIN), the older ICMR–NIN tables, USDA FoodData Central, named composition studies and the shared ThaliFacts dataset, reconciled against Atwater factors on every build. Which source applies to which food is listed per food, and every source carries the date it was last checked. General information only — not medical or religious guidance. Fasting is not safe for everyone, particularly during pregnancy or with diabetes or other conditions. Speak to a doctor first.

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