Monday Fast (Somvar Vrat) — Vidhi, Rules, Mantras & Udyapan
Shiva's day and the Moon's day at once — puja vidhi, what to offer on a Shivling, when to break the fast, Som Pradosh, Sawan and Kartik Mondays, udyapan, and keeping the fast abroad

Is Monday Shiva's day or the Moon's day?

You will find both answers online, which is why the question keeps coming back. The honest answer is that they are the same answer.

Soma is a Sanskrit name for the Moon. Shiva carries the crescent in his matted hair, so one of his thousand names is Someshwar — lord of Soma. Monday belongs to Soma, and Soma sits on Shiva's forehead. That is why the day's worship goes to Shiva while the tradition also asks you to look at the Moon at night.

But the real point sits deeper than the naming. In the Vedas the Moon is not merely a body in the sky. The Purusha Sukta contains this line:

That single line changes what the fast is for. If the Moon is born of mind, and Monday is the Moon's day, then the Monday fast is a fast of the mind — against anger, restlessness, insomnia, envy, a scattered head. When your grandmother said keeping Somvar vrat "settles the mind", she was repeating the Veda, whether or not anyone told her so.

And here is where it gets genuinely strange.

The order of the weekdays is not arbitrary either. The Surya Siddhanta (Bhugoladhyaya 12.78–79) gives the arithmetic: counting downward from Saturn, every fourth planet becomes the lord of the following day, because the planet ruling the first hora of a day rules the whole day. Run that cycle and you get Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn — the order the entire world still uses.

So Monday is the Moon's, the Moon governs the mind, and the mind's master is Shiva. Which leaves one question: why did the Moon need Shiva's protection in the first place?

The story that created Somnath — and started the Monday fast

The answer sits in the Prabhasa Khanda of the Skanda Purana, and it is rarely told in full.

The Moon had married twenty-seven daughters of Daksha Prajapati, but gave all his affection to Rohini alone. The other twenty-six were neglected. Daksha warned him repeatedly. When the Moon would not listen, Daksha cursed him with kshaya roga — the wasting disease. The Moon began to shrink. His digits faded, his brilliance dimmed, and darkness spread through creation.

Broken, he came to the seashore at the place now called Prabhasa. There he had Brahma install a Shivalinga, and performed penance for a thousand years. Shiva appeared. The Moon asked two boons: that the curse be lessened, and that Shiva remain in that linga forever, with Uma beside him.

Shiva answered that Daksha's curse could not be erased, only divided. So for the fifteen days of the dark fortnight the Moon would wane, and for the fifteen days of the bright fortnight he would wax. And since this linga had been installed by Soma —

Three things lock together in that story, and together they are the root of the Monday fast.

• The first of the twelve Jyotirlingas, Somnath, was installed by the Moon. Its very name is built from Soma.
• The waxing and waning of the Moon is presented not as astronomy but as the settlement between a curse and a mercy — and that settlement is the basis of the Hindu calendar, its dark and bright fortnights.
• The first person to keep the Monday fast was the Moon himself — not for a boon, but to climb out of illness and darkness. The Skanda Purana says the vrat was performed by Somaraja when he was overwhelmed by Daksha's curse, and that his body became clear again.

Which brings up something almost nobody mentions.

Sankalp — the step people skip

A vrat does not begin with hunger. It begins with sankalp. Without it you are simply skipping meals.

Preparation starts on Sunday evening: one sattvic meal before sunset, no onion or garlic, nothing fried or heavy, and an early night.

On Monday, wake in Brahma muhurta, roughly ninety minutes before sunrise. Bathe in cool water — a little Gangajal mixed in is traditional. Wear clean clothes; white is considered best for this day. Sprinkle the puja space with Gangajal.

Now hold a few whole rice grains, a flower and a little water, stand before the Shivling or Shiva's image, and say the sankalp aloud. It does not have to be in Sanskrit. Your own language is fine. Three things should be in it:

• What you are doing — "I am keeping the Monday fast today."
• For how long — "This is my third Monday; I have taken a sankalp of eleven."
• Why — your specific wish, or simply "for the grace of Lord Shiva".

Then release the water and rice into a copper vessel. The sankalp is made. Take on only what you can finish: five Mondays completed is worth more than sixteen abandoned at the sixth.

Somvar Vrat puja vidhi, step by step

At home or at a temple, the sequence is the same.

1. Bathe and purify. Bathe before sunrise, wear clean white clothes, clean the puja space and sprinkle it with Gangajal.
2. Take the sankalp with water, rice and a flower in hand, as above.
3. Jalabhishek. Pour water over the Shivling from a copper or brass lota in a thin, unbroken stream — never all at once. Face north or east and keep chanting Om Namah Shivaya as you pour.
4. Panchamrit abhishek. In order: milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar. Rinse with a little clean water after each, and finish with a full water abhishek so nothing is left clinging to the stone.
5. Sandalwood and bhasma. Apply sandalwood paste, then draw the tripundra with bhasma.
6. Offer. Bilva leaves with the smooth side facing down, white flowers, datura, arka blossoms, black sesame and rice. Bilva leaves should be three-lobed and unbroken.
7. Lamp, incense, naivedya. Light a ghee lamp and incense; offer white sweets, kheer, or milk with mishri.
8. Japa and katha. Chant Om Namah Shivaya 108 times on a rudraksha mala, then read the Shiv Chalisa and the Somvar Vrat Katha.
9. Aarti and prasad. Perform the Shiva aarti, take the charanamrit, distribute prasad.
10. Evening puja. In this vrat the evening puja matters as much as the morning one. Around sunset, in Pradosh kaal, light the lamp again, remember Shiva and hear the katha. The fast is broken after this.

Somvar Vrat samagri list

Here is the full list. Do not be intimidated by it — half of these can be missing and the puja still stands. A single lota of water offered with faith is accepted.

Category	Items
Abhishek	Clean water (Gangajal if possible), raw milk, curd, ghee, honey, sugar — these five are the panchamrit
Leaves & flowers	Bilva leaves, white flowers (oleander, jasmine, madar), datura, arka blossoms, shami leaves
Pastes	White or red sandalwood, bhasma (vibhuti)
Other offerings	Whole rice, black sesame, sugarcane juice, bhang where the tradition exists, a sacred thread
Vessels	Copper or brass lota, thali, achmani spoon, a gadgadi drip pot
Lamp & incense	Ghee lamp, cotton wicks, incense sticks, camphor
Naivedya	Mishri, white sweets, kheer, seasonal fruit, coconut
Japa	Rudraksha mala
Cloth	White clothes for the observer, white cloth for the puja chowki

What to offer on a Shivling — and what never to offer

This is the most-asked question about Monday worship and the one that gets muddled most often. Both lists, plainly:

Why not ketaki? The Shiva Purana tells of an argument between Brahma and Vishnu over who was greater, settled by a contest to find the end of an infinite Jyotirlinga. Neither could. Vishnu admitted it; Brahma produced a ketaki flower as a false witness to his claim. Shiva appeared and cursed the ketaki never to be accepted in his worship again.

Why not a conch? The conch is associated with the demon Shankhachuda, slain by Shiva. So water is never poured from a shankha onto a Shivling, even though the conch is essential in Vishnu worship.

One detail almost no guide carries: the Purana ranks flowers. The Skanda Purana states that a single arka flower equals a gift of ten gold coins, that oleander is worth a thousand arka flowers, and that one shami flower equals a thousand kusha blossoms. Notice what that ranking implies — arka and shami grow wild and free, while lotuses must be bought. The message is not subtle: what comes to you easily ranks highest.

What to eat during the Monday fast

Somvar Vrat is not a waterless fast. It was designed for ordinary householders to sustain for a lifetime, so it comes with flexibility built in. Three levels are common:

• Phalahar — fruit, milk and buttermilk through the day, then one sattvic meal in the evening after the Shiva puja. This is the most widespread form.
• Ek bhukt — a single meal in the day, water or milk otherwise. The usual South Indian practice.
• Complete upvas — water only, with parana after sunrise the next day. Demanding, and not for everyone.

Allowed: seasonal fruit, milk, curd, buttermilk, paneer, sabudana, samak rice, kuttu and singhada flour, potato, sweet potato, bottle gourd, colocasia, makhana, nuts, coconut, jaggery and mishri. For seasoning: rock salt (sendha namak), black pepper and cumin.

Avoided: grains (wheat, rice, lentils), ordinary table salt, onion and garlic, meat, fish, eggs, alcohol, and anything tamasic or deep-fried.

One honest note. Eating fried sabudana tikkis and heavy potato chaat all day and calling it a fast defeats the purpose. The "one meal" of the texts is a light meal. The word upavasa literally means "sitting near" — near the divine. A heavy stomach sits near nothing.

When should you break the Monday fast?

The direct answer first: the most widely followed rule is to break the fast the same evening, in Pradosh kaal — around sunset — after the Shiva puja and the vrat katha.

But three traditions exist, and all three are valid. That is why people get confused.

Practice	When to break	Where it is followed
Pradosh kaal	Around sunset, after the evening puja and katha	Most widespread — North and Central India
By the third prahar	Roughly between 3 and 4 pm	Many family traditions
At the next sunrise	Tuesday morning, after bathing	South India, Kartik Somvar vrat

What is a "prahar"? The daytime is divided into four prahars of roughly three hours each. If sunrise is at six, the first prahar runs to nine, the second to twelve, the third to three. So the third prahar ends around 3 pm — which is what people mean by "breaking the fast at three".

The best approach is to follow your own family's practice. If there is none, adopt the Pradosh kaal rule; it is the most common and the most suited to Shiva worship.

How many Mondays, and when to start?

For the ordinary Somvar Vrat there is no required number. One Monday is valid; so is a lifetime of them. That flexibility is the whole character of this fast.

If you want to take a sankalp, the usual counts are 5, 7, 11 or 16 — and the Puranic original, as noted above, is eight with udyapan on the ninth.

When to begin? The Skanda Purana says the vrat may be started on any Monday in the bright fortnight of any month. That is worth knowing, because the common claim that you "must start in Sawan" is not a rule anywhere in the texts.

In practice these months are considered best:

• Shravana (Sawan) — the most auspicious; Shiva's own month
• Kartik — the principal month in South and West India
• Vaishakh and Margashirsha — their Mondays are also held special
• Phalgun — the month of Mahashivratri

The Solah Somvar vrat has its own vidhi, katha and udyapan; a full guide to it is coming.

Which mantra to chant on Monday

Three mantras are enough for this day. You do not need more.

Mantra	When and how many
Om Namah Shivaya the Panchakshara	While pouring water, and 108 times on a rudraksha mala after the puja. This is the day's principal mantra.
Om Som Somaya Namah	For the Moon — 11 or 21 times at night while looking at the Moon
Mahamrityunjaya Mantra Om tryambakam yajamahe…	In illness, fear or crisis — 11, 21 or 108 times

A word on the Mahamrityunjaya, because it is widely reduced to "the mantra that prevents death". It is in fact a verse of the Rigveda (7.59.12), addressed to Tryambaka, the three-eyed Rudra, and it carries a beautiful image: as a ripe cucumber is freed from its stalk without being pulled, so may I be freed from the bond of death — but not from immortality. That is not a plea to stay alive. It is a plea to ripen. A separate article on it is planned.

Som Pradosh — the Monday that counts double

Every month has two Pradosh vrats, on the trayodashi of each fortnight. When a trayodashi falls on a Monday it becomes Som Pradosh — Shiva's day and Shiva's tithi together — and it is counted among the most auspicious Shiva days of the year.

Pradosh kaal is the window around sunset, roughly forty-five minutes on either side of it. The puja happens inside that window, so the Som Pradosh fast is kept all day and broken there.

Som Pradosh does not occur every month; only two or three fall in a year, which is why it is looked forward to.

Sawan Mondays and Kartik Mondays — one vrat, two months

This is the point that confuses North and South Indian families when they compare notes, and the explanation is simple.

In North India, Maharashtra and Gujarat, the Mondays of Shravana are the great ones. The tradition holds that the churning of the ocean happened in this month and that Shiva drank the halahala poison to save creation — so his throat is cooled with water all month long. These are also the weeks of the Kanwar Yatra, when pilgrims carry Ganga water on foot from Haridwar, Gangotri and Sultanganj to their village Shiva temple.

In Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, the same weight falls on the Mondays of Kartik — Kartik Somvar, or Karthigai Somavaram in Tamil. There the fast runs from sunrise to the next sunrise, and many take it up for twelve years or for life.

Why do the dates differ? North India follows the purnimanta calendar, where the month ends at the full moon; the south and west follow the amanta calendar, ending at the new moon. That produces a gap of about a fortnight.

And not only India. In Nepal, the four Mondays of Shravana carry their own colour — women wear green, red and yellow bangles all month, a green pote at the neck, and mehndi on the hands. Green is the month's colour there, the colour of paddy fields in the rain. Even girls who live in jeans put on bangles that month.

There is one southern custom worth carrying home. On Kartik Somvar a devoted Shiva-worshipping couple is invited and fed, and then honoured as Uma and Maheshwara themselves. Worship, in other words, is not only for stone; the same divinity is looked for in a living household.

How to perform Somvar Vrat udyapan

Udyapan follows the last of the Mondays you committed to. If you are keeping ordinary Mondays without a sankalp, no udyapan is needed.

1. Bathe in the morning, wear white, and purify the puja space with Gangajal.
2. Build a square mandap with four banana stems and decorate it with mango leaves and white flowers.
3. Place a chowki in the centre, spread new white cloth, and install images of Shiva and Parvati — along with a vessel representing the Moon.
4. Sit facing east. Take the sankalp and perform the full shodashopachara puja, abhishek and aarti.
5. Perform a havan with sesame, barley, ghee and kheer, offering the ahutis with Shiva mantras.
6. Feed brahmins or those in need with kheer and puri, and give cloth and dakshina according to your means.
7. End with the kshama-prarthana, asking forgiveness for any lapse in the ritual.

The Skanda Purana describes something far grander — golden pots, eight shaktis installed in the eight directions, an all-night vigil. But the same text says that whoever performs this vrat at home, within his means, earns the merit of a pilgrimage. Display beyond your means was never asked for.

What not to do on a Monday

Fasting or not, some things are traditionally avoided on Mondays. Some rest on scripture, some on plain sense, and some purely on custom — worth separating so you can decide for yourself.

• Anger, harsh words, quarrels. This matters most. The Moon governs the mind; wrecking your mind on the mind's own day empties the fast of meaning.
• Meat, alcohol and tamasic food are kept out of the house, fast or no fast.
• Milk. The observer offers milk to Shiva rather than drinking it during the day, and may take it after the evening puja. This varies by family.
• Washing hair and cutting nails. Avoided in many households on Mondays. This is custom, not scriptural instruction — some families are strict about it, others ignore it entirely.
• Sleeping during the day is discouraged on a fast day, so that the vrat does not reduce to hunger alone.
• Turning anyone away. No one should leave your door empty-handed on this day.

Everything else — work, travel, shopping, study — proceeds normally. Monday is regarded as a good day for auspicious undertakings, not a restricted one.

Keeping the Monday fast abroad

First, kill the question that troubles everyone: do I follow the Indian date or my own? Your own. The ordinary Somvar Vrat runs on the weekday, not the tithi. When it is Monday where you live, it is your fast — your sunrise, your sunset, your Pradosh kaal.

The one exception is Som Pradosh, which is tied to the trayodashi tithi. For that, check a panchang set to your city, or simply keep it on the Indian date with your family. Either works — just decide once.

• No Shivling? An image of Shiva is fine. Small brass parthiv lingas are easy to order online now.
• No bilva leaves? Indian grocers stock dried ones and they are accepted. If you cannot find any, a single lota of water offered with faith is enough — the Purana says so itself.
• No datura or arka? You will not find them abroad. Any white flower works — chrysanthemum, lily, carnation.
• Smoke alarms? Keep the ghee lamp very small, use a short piece of incense, or switch to an electric diya. Summoning the fire brigade is not part of the vidhi.
• Where does the abhishek water go? Do the whole abhishek over a thali and pour the water into a plant — a pot on the balcony counts.
• Who gets the prasad? Colleagues, neighbours, your children's friends. If there is no one, donate something to a food bank. Prasad exists to be shared.

One more thing worth saying. Doing this abroad is genuinely hard — no time, no ingredients, cold mornings, a meeting at nine. But on the Monday you manage it, you will find yourself remembering the small temple in your village, and a grandmother who once walked you there holding your finger. That memory has value. And there is only one way to give it to your own children: let them watch you do it.

How to explain this day to your children

Children ask why. "Because we do" does not preserve a tradition; it only postpones the question. Monday happens to have unusually good answers.

For younger children (4–8). Show them the Moon at night and ask whether it looked the same yesterday. Then tell them the Moon shrinks a little each day and grows back, because long ago the Moon made a serious mistake, and Shiva forgave him and took away half the punishment — which is why the Moon never disappears completely, it always returns. There is a first lesson about forgiveness hidden in that.

For older children (9–14). Ask them why "Moon" is hiding inside "Monday". When they look surprised, give them Montag, lundi and lunes. In one stroke it shows them that their tradition is not something small and local, but part of the oldest shared idea humanity has. For children growing up outside India, this one is worth its weight.

For teenagers. Tell them the Skanda Purana story of the gandharva girl who declared that no one in the three worlds matched even a fraction of her beauty. What Shiva's gana said as he left — that high birth, beauty, learning and wealth all count for nothing once pride sets in, and the person is ruined — lands harder in the age of social media than it possibly did when it was written. The full story is in our Somvar Vrat Katha article.

And the best method of all: do not make a child fast. Include the child in the puja. Let them pour one lota of water and place one bilva leaf. Five minutes is plenty. Hands remember what ears forget.

In closing

Somvar Vrat is among the simplest fasts India has. No difficult tithi calculations, no expensive materials, no social gatekeeping. Man or woman, in a village or in a flat in New York — the vidhi is the same and the promised fruit is the same.

Its real message sits in the story it grew out of. The Moon erred, was cursed, waned almost to nothing — and returned by taking refuge in Shiva. The curse was not erased; its shape changed. Total annihilation became a cycle of waning and waxing. The Moon still shrinks every month, and every month it fills again.

Disclaimer: This article describes religious tradition, Puranic sources and popular belief for informational purposes. Procedures, dates and rules vary by region, sampradaya and family custom — give priority to your own family's practice and your local panchang. Nothing here is medical advice. Please consult your doctor before fasting, particularly in pregnancy or with diabetes, blood pressure, thyroid or any chronic condition.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which god is the Monday fast for?

The Monday fast (Somvar Vrat) is kept for Lord Shiva, and along with him for Chandra, the Moon god. Shiva wears the crescent moon on his head and is therefore called Someshwar, and the day itself is named after Soma, the Moon. Goddess Parvati is worshipped alongside Shiva in this vrat. It is not restricted to any group — women, men and children may all keep it.

What time should you break the Monday fast?

The most widely followed practice is to break the Monday fast the same evening during Pradosh kaal — around sunset — after the Shiva puja and the vrat katha. Some families break it by the third prahar instead, meaning roughly 3 pm. In the South Indian Kartik Somvar tradition the fast continues until the next sunrise and is broken on Tuesday morning. All three are valid; follow your own family's practice.

What can you eat during the Monday fast?

During the Monday fast you may eat fruit, milk, curd, buttermilk, paneer, sabudana, samak rice, kuttu and singhada flour, potato, sweet potato, bottle gourd, makhana, nuts, coconut and mishri. Rock salt, black pepper and cumin are the permitted seasonings. Grains, ordinary table salt, onion, garlic, meat, fish, eggs and alcohol are avoided. This is not a waterless fast, so drink water through the day.

How many Mondays should you fast?

The ordinary Somvar Vrat has no required number — you may keep it once or for a lifetime. If you take a sankalp, the usual counts are 5, 7, 11 or 16 Mondays, followed by udyapan after the last one. The original method described in the Skanda Purana runs for eight Mondays with udyapan on the ninth. Commit only to a number you can complete.

When should you start the Monday fast?

According to the Skanda Purana, the Monday fast may be started on any Monday in the bright fortnight of any month — waiting for Sawan is not a requirement. In practice the first Monday of Shravana is considered most auspicious, followed by the Mondays of Kartik, Vaishakh and Margashirsha. In South India it is more common to begin in the month of Kartik.

What should never be offered on a Shivling?

Ketaki (kewda) flowers, tulsi leaves, turmeric, kumkum, sindoor and roli are never offered on a Shivling, and water should not be poured from a conch shell. Stale, wilted or fallen flowers, torn or insect-eaten bilva leaves and broken rice grains are also avoided. The prohibition on ketaki comes from the Shiva Purana, where the flower gave false witness in support of Brahma's claim.

What should you offer on a Shivling?

Clean water is offered first, followed by the panchamrit abhishek of raw milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar. After that come bilva leaves placed smooth side down, white flowers, datura, arka blossoms, bhasma, sandalwood paste, black sesame, whole rice and shami leaves. Rinse with clean water after each abhishek and at the end. The texts hold that even a single lota of water offered with faith pleases Shiva.

What are the benefits of keeping the Monday fast?

Tradition associates the Monday fast with peace of mind, relief from illness, marital harmony, children, and finding a suitable life partner. Because the Moon is the significator of the mind in jyotish, the fast is also treated as a remedy for a weak Moon and for mental restlessness. The Skanda Purana states that the vrat is open to all and fulfils all wishes. Practically, it builds one day a week of restraint and light eating.

What is Som Pradosh and how is it different from an ordinary Monday fast?

When the trayodashi tithi falls on a Monday it is called Som Pradosh — Shiva's day and Shiva's tithi together. The ordinary Somvar Vrat is based on the weekday and can be kept on any Monday of the year, while Som Pradosh is based on the tithi and occurs only two or three times a year. Its puja is performed in Pradosh kaal, roughly forty-five minutes either side of sunset, and the fast is broken there.

What is the difference between Sawan Mondays and Kartik Mondays?

The vrat is the same; only the month differs. In North India, Maharashtra and Gujarat the Mondays of Shravana are most important, because tradition holds that the churning of the ocean occurred in that month and Shiva drank the halahala poison. In Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu the same importance belongs to the Mondays of Kartik. The dates differ because North India follows the purnimanta calendar while the south and west follow the amanta calendar.

Which mantra should you chant on Monday?

The principal Monday mantra is the Panchakshara, "Om Namah Shivaya", chanted while pouring water over the Shivling and 108 times on a rudraksha mala after the puja. For the Moon, "Om Som Somaya Namah" is chanted 11 or 21 times at night while viewing the Moon. In illness, fear or crisis the Mahamrityunjaya Mantra is used — a verse from Rigveda 7.59.12 addressed to the three-eyed Rudra.

What should you avoid doing on a Monday?

Anger, harsh speech and quarrels should be avoided above all, because the Moon governs the mind and this is the day for steadying it. Meat, alcohol and tamasic food are kept away, and the observer offers milk to Shiva rather than drinking it during the day. Many households also avoid washing hair and cutting nails on Mondays — this is custom rather than scriptural instruction. Work, travel and study proceed normally.

Can you keep the Monday fast during your period?

Traditionally, puja, abhishek and touching the Shivling are avoided during menstruation, but the sankalp is not considered broken. The common practice is to continue the fast and chant "Om Namah Shivaya" silently, while another woman of the household performs the puja or it is done afterwards. Views differ between families and regions on this, so following your own household's practice is the most appropriate course.

How do you perform Somvar Vrat udyapan?

Udyapan is done after the last Monday of your sankalp. Bathe in the morning and wear white, build a mandap with four banana stems decorated with mango leaves and white flowers, and install images of Shiva and Parvati on a chowki spread with new white cloth, along with a vessel representing the Moon. Then perform the full puja, abhishek and a havan, feed those in need with kheer and puri, give dakshina according to your means, and close with the kshama-prarthana. No udyapan is needed for ordinary Mondays kept without a sankalp.

How do you keep the Monday fast while living abroad?

The ordinary Somvar Vrat follows the weekday rather than the tithi, so keep it on your local Monday, from your own sunrise to your own sunset. Only Som Pradosh is tithi-based and needs a local panchang. If you have no Shivling, an image of Shiva is fine; dried bilva leaves from an Indian grocer are accepted, and any white flower can replace datura. Use a small or electric diya if smoke alarms are a problem, and pour the abhishek water into a plant.

How is the Monday fast different from Solah Somvar Vrat?

The ordinary Monday fast can be kept on any Monday without a fixed count and does not require udyapan. Solah Somvar Vrat is a committed observance of sixteen consecutive Mondays, concluded with a formal udyapan on the seventeenth Monday in which a wheat-flour panjiri has a special role. Solah Somvar is kept mainly for a desired life partner and for the fulfilment of wishes. The puja vidhi of both is nearly identical; the difference lies in the sankalp, the count and the udyapan.