Bengaluru techies try to find love the old-fashioned way - with ‘16 Somwar’ fast

In November last year, a group of friends got together in Bengaluru and – all of them being single and done with dating apps – decided to try something new. The group of six friends decided to look for love the old fashioned way, by appeasing the Gods and fasting for 16 Mondays.

This modern-day twist to the age-old Hindu ritual of ‘Solah Somwar’ has amused the internet after one group member, Ritika Agarwal, posted about it on X.

“I was hanging out with a bunch of friends and we were discussing many things including dating and fitness. We thought fasting would be a good way to cut down junk and eat better, especially on a Monday because of all the weekend binging.

“It came very spontaneously to me at that moment that both the pain points can be tackled together by doing ‘16 Somvaar,’” Agarwal, a data scientist in her late 20s, told HT.com.

What is 16 Somwar?

Solah Somvaar Vrat, also known as the 16 Somwar Fast, is a Hindu religious observance dedicated to Lord Shiva. “Somwar” means Monday, which is considered auspicious for worshipping Shiva, and “Solah” means sixteen - referring to the number of consecutive Mondays the fast is observed.

This fasting ritual is typically observed by unmarried women to get an ideal life partner.

16 Somwar in Bengaluru

Agarwal posted about her 16 Somwar initiative on X, where her post has been viewed over 4 lakh times.

“We started a fun little thing in November last year where 6 of us decided to find love the old school (delusional) way & fasted for 16 Mondays,” she wrote. “We recently met and unanimously decided to do it again, but with a few more folks,” she said, adding that people interested in joining her initiative could send her a message.

“More than a 100 people have DMed me to join 16 Somvaar 2.0,” she told HT.com.

Asked if the fast has actually yielded any results, Agarwal said: “I think all of us went on really nice dates, found really cool folks, but as of now, all of us are single.”

“We are a group of entrepreneurs, software developers, marketers & we are also a group of board gamers, standup comedians, nerdy geeks who loves doing super random stuff,” she added on X.