Jaya Ekadashi 2027
Wednesday, 17 February 2027

What it is kept for

Release from a fallen state, as the pair in its katha took their own forms again.

Jaya Ekadashi vrat katha

In Indra’s court the gandharva Malyavan and the apsara Pushpavati, taken with each other, sang and danced out of time. Indra cursed them to live as pishachas in the Himalayas.

On the Jaya Ekadashi of Magha they were so miserable with the cold that they ate nothing all day and could not sleep all night. Without knowing it they had kept the vrat, and by it they were freed and took their own forms again.

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

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, is over by 17 Feb, 10:47 PM, before sunrise, so the fast is broken in pratahkal, the first fifth of the day: 6:58 AM to 9:12 AM on Thursday, 18 February, in New Delhi.

In 2028: Hari Vasara, the first quarter of Dwadashi, runs until 7 Feb, 2:48 PM, past the morning, and a fast is not broken at midday, so parana waits until after madhyahna: 2:48 PM to 3:53 PM on Monday, 7 February 2028, in New Delhi.