Ekadashi vrat: the rules, the puja, and how to break the fast on Dwadashi

When

• The fast runs from sunrise on Ekadashi to the parana window on Dwadashi morning. Strict observers begin the evening before, after a single meal.
• The puja is done in the morning after bathing; the evening has a second short aarti and, for those who keep it, a jaagran (vigil) with kirtan.
• Parana on Dwadashi must be done after sunrise and before the Dwadashi tithi ends; the panchang gives a window of an hour or two, usually between about 6.30 and 9 am. Breaking the fast outside it is considered to undo the vrat.

What is eaten and what is not

Not eaten: all grains (rice, wheat, millets, oats, corn), all lentils and beans, and anything made from them, including flours, bread, dosa and idli. Also avoided: onion, garlic, mushrooms, non-vegetarian food, alcohol, and ordinary iodised salt.

Eaten (phalahar): fruit, milk, curd, paneer, ghee, nuts, potatoes, sweet potato, sabudana, kuttu and singhara flour, samak (barnyard millet, which is treated as a non-grain in most traditions), coconut, sendha namak (rock salt), sugar and jaggery, and tea or coffee.

Three levels of observance are all considered Ekadashi vrats: nirjala, without food or water (kept by the strict and on Nirjala Ekadashi in June); phalahar, on fruit and milk, the common household fast; and a single sattvic meal without grain in the evening, for those who work, are unwell, or are elderly. Choose one in the morning and keep it.

The day before (Dashami)

Eat one sattvic meal, without onion and garlic, before sunset. Pluck the tulsi leaves needed for the puja, since tulsi is left untouched on Ekadashi. Keep the mind quiet in the evening; the vrat is understood to begin here.

Ekadashi morning: the puja

1. 1

   Bathe and resolve

   After bathing, with water in the right palm, state the sankalp: that you keep today's Ekadashi vrat for Vishnu's grace and the welfare of the family, and will break it on Dwadashi in the proper time.

2. 2

   Set the altar

   Vishnu or Krishna on a yellow cloth. A diya lit, agarbatti burning, the kalash with Gangajal beside.

3. 3

   Abhishek

   For a metal murti: panchamrit, then clean water, then wipe and dress. For a picture: sprinkle water with a flower.

4. 4

   Offer

   Chandan tilak, yellow flowers, tulsi leaves on the feet (never on Shiva or the Devi, always on Vishnu). Naivedya of fruit and a milk sweet, with a tulsi leaf placed on it.

5. 5

   Read

   The day's Ekadashi katha, then the Vishnu Sahasranama or a shorter stotra. A round of japa on the tulsi mala: Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, 108 times.

6. 6

   Aarti

   The Vishnu aarti (Om Jai Jagdish Hare). Prasad taken as part of the phalahar.

Through the day and the night

The day is spent lightly: no heavy work if it can be helped, no anger, no unnecessary talk. Reading, japa, and kirtan are the traditional occupations. Sleeping in the day is discouraged.

Jaagran, the night vigil with bhajans, is kept by the devout and on the major Ekadashis. Most households do an evening aarti and go to bed; the vrat is not diminished.

Dwadashi: parana

1. 7

   Check the time

   The parana window is given in the panchang and in the WhatsApp message: after sunrise, before the Dwadashi tithi ends, and not during the Hari Vasara (the first quarter of Dwadashi). It is usually mid-morning.

2. 8

   Puja first

   A short morning puja: diya, flower, a prayer of thanks.

3. 9

   Break the fast

   With water, then a tulsi leaf, then a little of yesterday's prasad, then a proper meal that includes grain: rice or roti. Eating grain is part of the parana; a fast broken on fruit alone is not considered closed.

4. 10

   Feed someone

   A meal given to a guest, a Brahmin, or someone in need on Dwadashi is the traditional close of the vrat.

Dev Uthani Ekadashi and Tulsi Vivah

On 20 November 2026 Vishnu is woken from the Chaturmas sleep with conch, bell and song at the altar in the evening, and the tulsi plant is married to a shaligram or to Krishna's murti, with a small mandap of sugarcane, a red chunri for the plant, and the wedding rites in miniature. Weddings and housewarmings that paused for four months resume from this day. A separate guide covers the full Tulsi Vivah.

What usually goes wrong

• Breaking the fast late because the morning was busy. The parana window is the one fixed rule of Ekadashi; miss it and the vrat is counted as incomplete.
• Eating sabudana khichdi with ordinary salt. Use sendha namak; ordinary salt is a grain-day ingredient.
• Plucking tulsi on Ekadashi. Pick it the day before.
• A nirjala fast kept by someone with diabetes or on medication. Phalahar with medicine is the vrat for them, and is complete.
• Skipping the grain on Dwadashi. The parana meal includes rice or roti by design.

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