Kamika Ekadashi 2027
Thursday, 29 July 2027

About Kamika Ekadashi

The Purana praises worship of Vishnu with tulsi on this day, and a lamp of ghee or til oil.

What it is kept for

Freedom from sin, even a grave one, as in its katha.

Kamika Ekadashi vrat katha

In the Purana, Brahma tells Narada the merit of this day rather than a story: that worshipping Vishnu with tulsi leaves, and keeping a lamp burning before him through the night, is worth more than pilgrimages and great gifts.

The katha read in many North Indian homes is of a man who killed a brahmin in a quarrel and was shut out of the rites that followed. A sage told him to keep the Kamika Ekadashi, and by it he was freed of the sin.

The merit is from the Ekadashi Mahatmya of the Padma Purana (Uttara Khanda); the story of the quarrel is the one in North Indian vrat-katha books, not the Purana.

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, runs until 30 Jul, 10:30 AM, past the morning, and a fast is not broken at midday, so parana waits until after madhyahna: 1:49 PM to 4:31 PM on Friday, 30 July, in New Delhi.

In 2026: Dwadashi ends early, at 10 Aug, 8:01 AM, and the fast must be broken inside it, so the window is short: 5:48 AM to 8:01 AM on Monday, 10 August 2026, in New Delhi.

In 2028: Hari Vasara, the first quarter of Dwadashi, is over by 18 Jul, 10:11 PM, before sunrise, so the fast is broken in pratahkal, the first fifth of the day: 5:36 AM to 8:20 AM on Wednesday, 19 July 2028, in New Delhi.