Amalaki Ekadashi 2027
Thursday, 18 March 2027

About Amalaki Ekadashi

The amla (amalaki) tree is worshipped, and in Kashi it is Rangbhari Ekadashi, when gulal is first played at Kashi Vishwanath.

Also called: Amla Ekadashi; Rangbhari Ekadashi in Kashi.

What it is kept for

Worship of the amla tree, for protection and merit, as in its katha.

Amalaki Ekadashi vrat katha

In the city of Vaidisha, King Chaitraratha and all his people kept the Amalaki Ekadashi, worshipping an amla tree by the temple and staying awake through the night. A hungry hunter came by, stayed to watch and listen, and was awake all night with them.

He was born again as King Vasuratha. Once, asleep in a forest, he was set upon by robbers, and a goddess came out of his body and destroyed them. It was, he was told, the merit of that one night.

Retold from the Ekadashi Mahatmya in the Uttara Khanda of the Padma Purana, where Shri Krishna tells Yudhishthira the story and the merit of each Ekadashi.

Vrat vidhi

At the amla tree: water and roli at its root, a ghee lamp, and raw thread wound around the trunk. Amla is offered to Vishnu, who is said to live in the tree.

Beyond that, it is kept as every Ekadashi is: one sattvik meal without rice on Dashami, the sankalp at dawn, Vishnu’s puja with tulsi picked the day before, the katha, and no grain until parana, with fruit, milk, sabudana, kuttu and singhara in its place. The Ekadashi page has every step and the full lists of what to eat and avoid.

When to break the fast

Hari Vasara, the first quarter of Dwadashi, ends at 19 Mar, 7:14 AM, early in pratahkal, the first fifth of the day, so the fast is broken from then: 7:14 AM to 8:51 AM on Friday, 19 March, in New Delhi.