Ekadashi — Dates, Vrat Rules, Paaran Time & Puja Vidhi

Ekadashi dates 2026 & 2027

What is Ekadashi?

Ekadashi (एकादशी) means “the eleventh” — it is the eleventh tithi (lunar day) of each paksha. Because a lunar month has two pakshas, the waxing Shukla Paksha and the waning Krishna Paksha, Ekadashi comes twice a month, giving twenty-four Ekadashis in a normal year and twenty-six when an Adhik Maas (extra month) is added. Each one carries its own name, story and merit, and all of them are dedicated to Lord Vishnu.

The Ekadashi vrat is one of the oldest and most widely kept fasts in the Hindu tradition. The Padma Purana and Skanda Purana describe how observing it dissolves the weight of past karma and steadies the mind. This is why a date can never be hand-picked from the English calendar — Ekadashi is fixed by the exact moment the Moon-Sun separation enters the eleventh tithi, which is why the dates above are computed from real planetary positions using the Swiss Ephemeris engine, never copied from a generic list.

The table follows the Smartha rule, the default in Drik Panchang: the fast is on the day Ekadashi is running at sunrise, on the second day when it runs through two sunrises, and on the day it begins when it ends before the next sunrise. In that last case Vaishnava and ISKCON households fast on the following day. In a year with an Adhik (extra) month, the table also lists Padmini and Parama Ekadashi.

The 24 Sacred Ekadashis & Vrat Katha

Each of the 24 Ekadashis has its own unique spiritual glory, divine legend (vrat katha), and astrological benefits. Explore the specific katha, rituals, and mantras for each sacred Ekadashi below:

Ekadashi vrat (fasting) rules

The heart of the Ekadashi vrat is giving up grains and beans for the full day. The tradition holds that grains absorb the tamasic quality of the day, so devotees take only fruit, milk, water and permitted vrat foods such as sabudana, potato, singhara (water chestnut) flour and kuttu (buckwheat) flour. Rice in particular is set aside completely.

A complete Ekadashi vrat is more than diet. Devotees wake in the Brahma Muhurat, bathe, and worship Vishnu; they keep speech truthful, avoid anger and gossip, sleep little, and spend the day in japa, the katha of that Ekadashi, and seva. The strictest form is the nirjala vrat — a full day without even water — most famously kept on Nirjala Ekadashi. Those who cannot keep a full fast may take a single phalahar meal, and the elderly, unwell, pregnant women and children are traditionally exempt from the strict form.

Ekadashi paaran (breaking the fast)

Paaran is the act of breaking the fast, and the rule is strict: it is done on the next day, Dwadashi, after sunrise, within a prescribed window — and never on Ekadashi itself. The opening part of Dwadashi, the Hari Vasara, is avoided for paaran; so is breaking the fast after the Dwadashi tithi has ended, except when Dwadashi ends before sunrise on that day: then paaran is from sunrise until the end of early morning (pratahkal). Because the window is set by local sunrise and the precise tithi boundary, the exact paaran time changes with your city; the paaran card above the date table shows it for yours.

The traditional order is to first offer food to a Brahmin or to someone in need, then take your own simple grain-based meal. For the precise sunrise, tithi and avoid-windows on any Ekadashi for your city, use the daily Panchang.

Ekadashi puja vidhi

1. 1Take the sankalp on Dashami evening. On the night before Ekadashi (Dashami), eat a light grain-free meal and resolve to keep the vrat. From this point, grains and beans are set aside.
2. 2Wake before sunrise and bathe. Rise during the Brahma Muhurat, bathe, and wear clean clothes. Cleanliness of body and place is the first offering.
3. 3Set up the Vishnu puja. Place an idol or image of Lord Vishnu (or Lakshmi-Narayan), light a ghee diya, and offer tulsi leaves, yellow flowers, fruit, panchamrit and naivedya. Tulsi is essential — Vishnu puja is incomplete without it.
4. 4Chant and stay in remembrance. Recite the Vishnu Sahasranama or chant 'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya' through the day. Read or listen to that Ekadashi's katha (story). Keep speech truthful and the mind calm.
5. 5Keep the fast through the day. Take only fruit, milk, water and permitted vrat foods. Many keep a strict nirjala (waterless) fast on Nirjala Ekadashi. Avoid sleeping in the day and stay in satsang or japa.
6. 6Do paaran on Dwadashi. Break the fast on Dwadashi, the next day, after sunrise and within the paaran window the paaran card above shows for your city — never on Ekadashi. Offer food to a Brahmin or the needy first, then take your own meal.

Upay to deepen the Ekadashi vrat

If the same restlessness, doubt or lack of steadiness keeps returning every fortnight, the vrat is doing its work — but a few upay strengthen it. Light a ghee diya before Vishnu and offer tulsi; chant “Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya” 108 times; donate grains, yellow cloth or an umbrella; and feed someone before your own paaran. Wearing or offering yellow on Ekadashi honours Vishnu's guna.

Which Ekadashi and which upay suit you most depends on your chart — a heavy Moon, a weak ninth house of dharma, or an active Shani period each ask for a different remedy. Generate your free kundali to see your Moon, dasha and the upay that fit your chart.

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