Solah Somvar Vrat
what is eaten, and how to hold it
सोलह सोमवार व्रतSolah Somvar Vrat
Sixteen Mondays in unbroken sequence, most often begun in Shravan or on an auspicious day chosen for the vow.
ਸਰੋਤ·Published accounts of Solah Somvar Vrat as commonly observed·customs differ by family, region and sampradaya·ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਜੁਲਾਈ 2026
How long Solah Somvar Vrat runs
950–1,160kcal
One serving of each food listed below, ±10% for the hand that cooks it. A scale check, not a target. Sixteen consecutive Mondays. The Somvar observance kept for sixteen consecutive weeks as a sankalp — a vow — usually a single-meal day each week.
As the dataset states it: Sixteen weeks, one long fast day in each.
ਸਰੋਤ·Published vrat traditions + IFCT 2017·Solah Somvar Vrat entry·ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਜੁਲਾਈ 2026
What Solah Somvar Vrat is
Solah Somvar is a vow rather than a calendar fast: sixteen consecutive Mondays kept without a break, usually undertaken with a specific intention. Missing one is generally understood to mean beginning again.
Four months of a weekly fast day is a genuine pattern change rather than an event, and it is the observance on this site most likely to interact with a long-term training block, a medication schedule or a weight goal — simply because it lasts long enough to.
Customs vary. The rules of the sankalp — what must be eaten, whether a missed Monday restarts the count, and how it is concluded — are taught within families and traditions and differ between them.
How this entry is drawn, and how the food is counted
- The observance is read from published accounts of Solah 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)
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, customarily after the evening puja
- Specific prasad customs attach to the vow in many families
Customarily set aside
- Meat, fish, eggs, onion, garlic and alcohol
- Grains and pulses, in stricter observances
ਸਰੋਤ·Published accounts of Solah Somvar Vrat·reported, not prescribed; regional practice varies and the variation is the practice·ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਜੁਲਾਈ 2026
The food, with the numbers
Foods commonly associated with Solah Somvar Vrat, at the serving each is really eaten in. Every one has its own page with the full breakdown.
| Food | One serving is | Calories | Protein | Carbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cow Milk (full cream) | 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 |
| Paneer | 1 portion · 50 g | 133 kcal | 9.2 g | 2.0 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 |
| Rajgira Paratha | 1 paratha · 90 g | 251 kcal | 6.9 g | 33.8 g |
| Almonds (Badam) | 10 almonds · 12 g | 72 kcal | 2.5 g | 1.3 g |
One serving of each of these 8 items would come to about 1,050 kcal — a scale check, not a menu. Solah 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.
ਸਰੋਤ·Published vrat traditions + IFCT 2017·per stated serving weight·ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਜੁਲਾਈ 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
Sixteen weeks is a full training block. If Monday is your heaviest day, moving it permanently for the duration is more sensible than fighting it every week. Protein across the other six days matters more here than on any single-fast observance.
Sleep
Consistent and predictable, which is the advantage of a weekly pattern. Keep the meal at a consistent hour and sleep is largely unaffected.
Blood sugar
Four months of a weekly fast day is exactly the kind of sustained change your doctor should know about once, at the start. Dose timing on the fast day is the specific question to ask.
Hydration
Normal, with water through the fast day where permitted.
The specific risk with Solah Somvar Vrat
The risk is cumulative rather than acute: sixteen weeks of low-protein single-meal days can cost muscle, and for anyone with a history of restrictive eating, a long vow with a restart rule can become a difficult structure. If that applies to you, this is worth discussing with someone before beginning.
ਕਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਵਰਤ ਨਹੀਂ ਰੱਖਣਾ ਚਾਹੀਦਾ · ਵਰਤ ਤੇ ਬਲੱਡ ਸ਼ੂਗਰ · ਵਰਤ ਦੌਰਾਨ ਪਾਣੀ ਦੀ ਮਾਤਰਾ · Sources
Questions asked about Solah Somvar Vrat
What happens if a Monday is missed?
In most traditions the count begins again, which is why the vow is taken deliberately. The specifics belong to your family's practice.
Will sixteen weeks of Monday fasting cause weight loss?
Not necessarily. One long fast day a week reduces weekly intake only if the other days stay the same, and a large single meal plus dry fruit can easily replace what the day skipped. Sixteen weeks is long enough that the answer depends entirely on the other six days.
Related observances
ਸਰੋਤ·Published vrat traditions + IFCT 2017·observance accounts and food composition·ਸਮੀਖਿਆ ਜੁਲਾਈ 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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