Ekadashi Vrat: Rules, Parana Time and Why Dates Differ

Ekadashi is the eleventh tithi of each lunar fortnight, so it falls twice a month — once in the waxing (Shukla) half and once in the waning (Krishna) half. That normally gives 24 Ekadashis a year, and 26 in a year that includes an adhika (extra) month. Each has its own name and its own traditional story, such as Nirjala Ekadashi in Jyeshtha, Devshayani Ekadashi in Ashadha and Prabodhini Ekadashi in Kartika.

Ekadashi is dedicated to Vishnu, and the vrat (fast) is one of the most widely observed in Hindu practice.

Practice varies by family and community. The common patterns are:

• A complete fast without food or water (nirjala), which is demanding and mostly done on a single Ekadashi.
• A fruit-and-milk fast (phalahar), taking fruit, milk, nuts and tubers.
• A grain-free meal, in which rice, wheat, lentils and beans are avoided and foods such as sabudana, kuttu, singhara flour, potatoes and rock salt are used instead.

The fast is traditionally broken on the following day, Dwadashi, after sunrise. Panchangs give a parana window — a start and end time. The usual rules are to break the fast within that window, and not during Hari Vasara, the first quarter of the Dwadashi tithi. If Dwadashi ends very early after sunrise, the fast should be broken before it ends.

The parana window is the piece people most often get wrong, which is why a city-specific time is more useful than a generic "next morning".

Tithis do not line up with civil days, so on some occasions Ekadashi is present at sunrise on two consecutive days, or begins only after sunrise on the first day. Two rule-sets then give different answers:

• Smarta practice usually takes the day on which Ekadashi is in effect at sunrise.
• Vaishnava practice (for example in ISKCON calendars) adds a purity condition: the Ekadashi must not be mixed with the preceding Dashami tithi close to sunrise. When it is, Vaishnavas observe on the following day, which is sometimes labelled the Vaishnava or second Ekadashi.

Fasting is a personal, voluntary practice. People who are pregnant, elderly, diabetic, on regular medication or managing any medical condition should speak to a doctor before fasting, and a modified fast — one meal of permitted foods, or fruit only — is widely accepted in traditional practice as a valid observance. Children and anyone unwell are generally not expected to fast.

Because the exact start and end of the tithi depend on your location, the Ekadashi date and parana window should be looked up for your own city. The Ekadashi dates page on this site lists them for the year; if your family follows the Vaishnava rule, check the ISKCON Ekadashi list as well.