Ekadashi Vrat: Rules, Fasting Food, Katha & 2026–27 Dates

A Shiva dham thronged with kanwariyas offering jal · Shiv Kavar Samiti

Twice in every lunar month, on the eleventh day of the moon's waxing and waning, the devout across India set aside their ordinary meals and turn their hearts towards Lord Vishnu. This day is Ekadashi — perhaps the most widely kept vrat in all of Sanatan Dharma, loved by householders and sadhus alike, by the young keeping their very first fast and by elders who have not missed one in fifty years. It is gentle in its outward form and vast in its inner meaning: a single day of restraint that the scriptures say cleanses the mind, lightens the body and draws the soul nearer to the Divine. This guide explains, in plain and simple terms, everything a devotee wishes to know — what Ekadashi is, why we observe it, the rules of the fast, what may be eaten and what must be avoided, the step-by-step vidhi, the all-important parana that breaks the fast, the twenty-four named Ekadashis of the year, and the most beloved among them, along with their expected 2026–27 dates.

What is Ekadashi?

Ekadashi simply means 'the eleventh' — it is the eleventh tithi, or lunar day, of each fortnight (paksha) of the Hindu month. Because the moon has two fortnights every month — the bright, waxing Shukla Paksha and the dark, waning Krishna Paksha — Ekadashi comes around twice in a single lunar month, and so roughly twenty-four times in an ordinary year. Each Ekadashi is dedicated to Bhagwan Vishnu, the preserver of the universe, and is considered one of the most sacred of all vrat days. The tithi is counted by the position of the moon, not by the clock, so Ekadashi can fall on any weekday, and its exact date shifts a little each year — which is why devotees always confirm the day with a reliable local panchang.

There is a beautiful story behind why this day belongs to fasting. The Padma Purana tells that Ekadashi arose as a devi, born of Lord Vishnu himself to help subdue a demon named Mura, and that Vishnu, pleased with her, declared that whoever fasts on this tithi and stays awake in his remembrance would be freed from sin and drawn towards liberation. So Ekadashi is not merely a day of going without food; it is a day offered, in body and mind, to the Lord.

Why do we observe the Ekadashi vrat?

Devotees keep Ekadashi for reasons that are at once spiritual, mental and bodily. Spiritually, the vrat is said to burn away accumulated sins, calm the restless senses and earn great punya — the shastras go so far as to say that sincere Ekadashi observance opens the path to Vaikuntha, the abode of Vishnu. Mentally, a day of lightness and restraint quietens the mind and turns it inward, towards japa, kirtan and the reading of scripture. And on the plain level of the body, the ancients understood that a periodic rest from heavy grains gives the digestive system a gentle pause — a rhythm that modern folk are only now rediscovering. But above all, Ekadashi is kept out of love: a small, regular offering of one's comfort at the feet of the Lord.

How many Ekadashi are there in a year?

In an ordinary year there are twenty-four Ekadashis — two in each of the twelve lunar months, one in the bright fortnight and one in the dark. Each of these twenty-four carries its own name, its own story and its own particular blessing. In special years that contain an extra lunar month, called Adhik Maas or Purushottam Maas, two more Ekadashis are added, bringing the total to twenty-six; these two are known as Kamala (or Padmini) Ekadashi and Parama Ekadashi. Please note that 2026 does contain such an Adhik Maas, so if a panchang for the year lists more than twenty-four, that is why — do confirm the count and the dates with your local panchang.

The rules of the Ekadashi fast

The strictness of the fast is chosen according to one's health, age and strength — sincerity of heart always matters more than severity of body. The traditional forms range from the most rigorous to the most gentle:

• 🔱Nirjala vrat — a complete fast without even water, kept only by the strong and healthy, and famously observed on Nirjala Ekadashi.
• 🔱Phalahar (falahari) vrat — abstaining from all grains and beans, but taking fruits, milk and permitted vrat foods through the day.
• 🔱Naktavrat / ek-samay bhojan — a single sattvic meal without grains, taken once, usually before sunset.
• 🔱Partial or samagra fast — for the elderly, the unwell, children and expectant mothers, who may take fruit, milk and water freely as their strength requires.

Beyond food, the vrat asks for restraint of the whole person: rising early, bathing, taking a clear sankalp (resolve), speaking truthfully and gently, avoiding anger, gossip and harm, and giving the day's freed time to the remembrance of Vishnu. Many devotees also keep a night vigil (jagran) on Ekadashi, staying awake with bhajan and the reading of the Vishnu Sahasranama. The fast begins at sunrise on Ekadashi and is broken only the next morning, in the parana window described below.

What to eat and what to avoid on Ekadashi

The single most important rule of Ekadashi food is this: no grains and no beans. Rice especially is avoided — tradition holds that grains carry a heaviness unsuited to this pure day, and there is an old belief that the sin swept away on Ekadashi takes refuge in grains, so the devotee leaves them untouched. Alongside grains, one also sets aside onion, garlic, and of course all meat, eggs and alcohol, which have no place in any sattvic vrat. What remains is a light, clean falahar. The foods commonly taken on Ekadashi include:

• 🔱Fruits of every kind, and dry fruits such as almonds, cashews, raisins and makhana (fox nuts).
• 🔱Milk, curd, paneer, buttermilk and pure ghee.
• 🔱Vrat flours in place of grain: kuttu (buckwheat), singhara (water chestnut) and rajgira (amaranth).
• 🔱Sabudana (sago) — as khichdi, kheer or vada — a beloved staple of fasting days.
• 🔱Potatoes, sweet potatoes, arbi, pumpkin and other permitted vegetables.
• 🔱Sendha namak (rock salt) in place of ordinary table salt.
• 🔱Plain water, coconut water, and lightly sweetened milk (for those not keeping the nirjala fast).

Foods to avoid are just as clear: all grains and cereals (rice, wheat, jowar, bajra, maize), all lentils and beans (dal, chana, rajma), ordinary salt, onion and garlic, and any meat, egg, fish or intoxicant. Cook simply, eat lightly, and let the day feel like a rest rather than a feast.

Step-by-step Ekadashi vrat vidhi

The vidhi is simple and can be kept by anyone at home. Follow it in the spirit of devotion rather than as a rigid checklist:

• 🔱On the evening of Dashami (the tenth), take a light sattvic meal without grains and resolve to keep the fast the next day.
• 🔱Wake before sunrise on Ekadashi, bathe, wear clean clothes, and take the sankalp — a quiet vow stating the fast you intend to keep.
• 🔱At the home altar, worship Lord Vishnu: light a diya and dhoop, offer tulsi leaves, flowers, fruit and panchamrit, and place a yellow cloth or yellow flowers, which are dear to him.
• 🔱Chant through the day — 'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya', the Vishnu Sahasranama, or the Ekadashi vrat katha of that particular Ekadashi.
• 🔱Spend the day in restraint and remembrance; take only your chosen falahar, and if you can, keep a night vigil with bhajan.
• 🔱On the next morning, Dwadashi, complete the puja, feed and give daan to a brahmin or to the needy, and then break your own fast in the parana window.

It is not the emptiness of the stomach that pleases the Lord, but the fullness of the heart that turns to him all day long.

The parana — when and how to break the fast

The parana is the breaking of the Ekadashi fast, and it is done not on Ekadashi itself but on the following day, during Dwadashi (the twelfth tithi). This timing is important: the fast should be broken after sunrise on Dwadashi, and within the first quarter of the day, but crucially before the Dwadashi tithi ends. Breaking the fast too early, still within Ekadashi, or too late, after Dwadashi has passed, is both considered a fault. There is also a special caution against breaking the fast during Hari Vasara, the final quarter of the Ekadashi tithi. Because these windows are governed by tithi and sunrise, the exact parana time differs by city and by date — so always check the parana muhurat for your location with a reliable panchang. The fast is traditionally broken gently, with grains reintroduced, often after offering food and daan to others first.

The 24 named Ekadashis of the year

Each of the year's Ekadashis has a name drawn from its story and the boon it grants. The table below lists all twenty-four, month by month, with the fortnight in which each falls and the blessing traditionally associated with it. (The month names follow the North-Indian Purnimanta reckoning.)

The most beloved Ekadashis

While every Ekadashi is holy, a few shine especially bright in the devotional calendar and are kept even by those who cannot observe all twenty-four. Nirjala Ekadashi, in the bright fortnight of Jyeshtha (around June), is the most austere — a fast kept without a single drop of water — and the shastras promise that its sincere observance grants the combined fruit of every Ekadashi of the year; it is also called Bhima Ekadashi, after the mighty Pandava who kept it. Vaikuntha Ekadashi, the Margashirsha Shukla Ekadashi of the North's Mokshada, is celebrated with great grandeur in South Indian Vishnu temples, where the 'Gate of Vaikuntha' is opened for devotees to pass through in the belief that it opens the path to the Lord's own abode.

Devshayani Ekadashi, in Ashadha (around July), marks the day Vishnu lies down in his yoga-nidra and the four-month Chaturmas begins — a season of heightened austerity and devotion during which auspicious ceremonies pause. And Devuthani Ekadashi (also called Prabodhini or Dev Uthani Gyaras), in Kartika (around November), is its joyful counterpart: the day Vishnu awakens, Chaturmas closes, weddings and shubh works resume, and Tulsi Vivah is celebrated in countless homes. Between the Lord's sleeping and his waking, the whole rhythm of the devotional year turns upon these two Ekadashis.

Expected Ekadashi dates for 2026–27

Below are the expected dates of a few of the most widely observed Ekadashis across 2026–27, drawn from the panchang. Please treat all of these as anticipated dates only — the tithi can shift by a day depending on your city's sunrise, and 2026 contains an Adhik Maas that adds extra Ekadashis — so kindly confirm each date and its parana muhurat with a reliable local panchang:

• 🔱Nirjala Ekadashi — expected around 25 June 2026 (Jyeshtha Shukla).
• 🔱Devshayani Ekadashi (start of Chaturmas) — expected around 24 July 2026 (Ashadha Shukla).
• 🔱Aja Ekadashi — expected in early September 2026 (Bhadrapada Krishna).
• 🔱Indira Ekadashi (Pitru Paksha) — expected in early-mid October 2026 (Ashwina Krishna).
• 🔱Rama Ekadashi (before Diwali) — expected around early November 2026 (Kartika Krishna).
• 🔱Devuthani / Prabodhini Ekadashi (end of Chaturmas, Tulsi Vivah) — expected in mid-November 2026 (Kartika Shukla).
• 🔱Vaikuntha / Mokshada Ekadashi — expected around 20 December 2026 (Margashirsha Shukla).

Anna-daan on Ekadashi: seva that multiplies the merit

There is an old and tender teaching that the punya of a vrat is multiplied when it is joined to daan — and among all forms of daan, anna-daan, the giving of food to the hungry, is praised in the shastras as the greatest of all. On Ekadashi, when the devotee's own plate is set aside in devotion, it is a most fitting day to see that another's plate is filled. To feed a hungry person on this pure day is to turn one's fast outward into an act of love; the merit of the vrat and the merit of the giving flow together, and the Lord, who is pleased by both restraint and compassion, is doubly pleased.

This is the very spirit in which our Shiv Kavar Samiti serves. From our home on NH-8 at Mahipalpur, New Delhi, we run a free langar — pure, sattvic, vrat-friendly food and clean water offered to every soul who comes, at no charge, with no questions asked. On Ekadashi and through the year, every plate we serve is made possible by the daan of well-wishers who understand that seva is worship made visible. When you keep your Ekadashi, you might let a small part of it become someone else's meal.

How you can be part of the seva

If this guide has helped you keep your vrat with a little more clarity, you may wish to let it bear fruit in the plate of another. You can contribute to our free langar and seva work online at our /donate page through Razorpay's secure, branded checkout, or by direct bank transfer to our Punjab National Bank account (A/C 0149000104323988, IFSC PUNB0014900, Khan Market branch). To offer ration and supplies, to sponsor a day's anna-daan in the name of a loved one or an ancestor, to volunteer as a sewadar, or simply to ask how to reach us, message us on WhatsApp at +91 98189 08237. May your Ekadashi be kept with a light body and a full heart, and may Bhagwan Vishnu bless you and yours. Jai Shri Hari.