Ekadashi fast
Aja Ekadashi 2027: date, parana time and vrat katha
अजा एकादशी
Aja Ekadashi 2027 is on Friday, August 27 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). By the Vaishnava rule it is on Saturday, August 28. Break the fast on Saturday, August 28, between 8:26 and 9:11 AM (Smarta rule).
Eat between 8:26 and 9:11 AM on Saturday, August 28 (Smarta rule).
- Fast
Friday, August 27, 2027
Washington DC. Smarta rule.
- Break the fast
Saturday, August 28, 2027, 8:26–9:11 AM
Smarta rule.
- Vaishnava rule
Saturday, August 28, 2027
Fast by the Vaishnava rule. Break it Sunday 29 August, 6:34 AM – 10:57 AM.
- Fast in India
Saturday, August 28, 2027
New Delhi, same rule.
Vaishnava parana: Sun 29 Aug, 6:34–10:57 AM.
Why this time
Break the fast after Hari Vasara (the first quarter of Dwadashi), within pratahkala (the first fifth of the day).
Smarta rule: fast on the day Ekadashi prevails at sunrise (Dashami at sunrise spoils the day).
The fast day
The day in Washington DC
- Sunrise: 6:32 AM
- Rahu Kaal: 11:30 AM to 1:09 PM
- Abhijit muhurat: 12:42 to 1:35 PM. Abhijit and Rahu Kaal overlap from 12:42 PM to 1:09 PM.
- Sunset: 7:46 PM
- Pradosh (after sunset): 7:46 to 9:55 PM
- Ekadashi ends: 3:12 AM +1 day, then Dwadashi
- Next sunrise: 6:33 AM +1 day
- Nakshatra: Ardra until 11:03 PM
- Nakshatra: Punarvasu until 8:48 PM, 28 Aug
Tomorrow, Saturday, August 28: Break the fast
A tithi is a lunar day. It ends when the Moon gains another 12° on the Sun, at the same instant everywhere, so the clock time differs by city.
A tithi is a lunar day. It ends when the Moon gains another 12° on the Sun, at the same instant everywhere, so the clock time differs by city.
The nakshatra is the Moon’s place among the 27 star groups.
The nakshatra is the Moon’s place among the 27 star groups.
One of eight equal parts of the daytime, set by the weekday. Many families avoid starting new work in it. It is a calendar fact, not a prediction.
The eighth of fifteen equal parts of the daytime, around local noon. Abhijit and Rahu Kaal overlap from 12:42 PM to 1:09 PM.
The first part of the night after sunset. Evening pujas such as Lakshmi Puja follow it.
Break the fast after Hari Vasara (the first quarter of Dwadashi), within pratahkala (the first fifth of the day).
Aja Ekadashi is on Friday, August 27, 2027 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). By the Vaishnava rule it is on Saturday, August 28, 2027. Break the fast on Saturday, August 28, 2027, 8:26 AM – 9:11 AM.
Words on this page
- Paksha: Shukla and Krishna
- Half of a lunar month. In Shukla paksha, the bright half, the Moon grows. In Krishna paksha, the dark half, it wanes.
- Smarta rule and Vaishnava rule
- Two traditions' rules for the day of a festival or a fast. When they give different days, our pages show both and name each rule.
- Parana
- Breaking a fast at the time its rule allows. For Ekadashi: on the next day, after sunrise and Hari Vasara, before Dwadashi ends.
- Hari Vasara
- The first quarter of the Dwadashi tithi. The Ekadashi fast is not broken in it.
- Arunodaya
- The dawn before sunrise. In the Vaishnava Ekadashi rule, the 96 minutes (four ghatikas) before sunrise.
Shravana Krishna in the amanta calendar; Bhadrapada Krishna in the purnimanta calendar
Also called: Annada Ekadashi
Aja is the Ekadashi of the dark half of Bhadrapada (Shravana in the amanta calendar), a few days after Janmashtami. Its story is about King Harishchandra, who would not give up the truth even when he had lost everything.
Written for Pujadeep and checked against the sources listed. See the sources
When it falls
Next for Washington DC: Friday, August 27, 2027 (Vaishnava: Saturday, August 28, 2027). Parana: Saturday, August 28, 2027, 8:26 AM – 9:11 AM. Other cities can differ. Every Ekadashi of 2027 by city.
The story
Harishchandra was an emperor of the whole earth, known everywhere for keeping his word. Because of some deed from the past he lost his kingdom. To keep a promise he sold his wife and his son, and then himself. He became the servant of a man who kept the cremation ground, and his work was to collect the cloth of the dead. Even there he did not give up the truth.
Many years passed, and he was full of sorrow. He wondered what he could do and where he could go. One day the sage Gautama came by. Harishchandra bowed to him and told him everything. Gautama, moved, told him that in seven days the Ekadashi of the dark half of Bhadrapada, called Aja, would come, and that he should keep it with a fast and a night's vigil.
Harishchandra kept the fast just as the sage had said. His suffering came to an end. He was together again with his wife, and his son, who had died, was given back his life. Drums sounded in heaven and flowers fell. Harishchandra was given back his kingdom, and in the end he went to heaven with all his city. The text says that this fast frees a person from sorrow; that is the text's own claim, told here as its claim.
Fasting is a choice. Anyone who is pregnant, nursing, diabetic, unwell, elderly or on regular medicine should talk to a doctor before fasting.
Where the story comes from
- Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, chapter 58, in the Anandashrama Sanskrit Series edition (Padmapuranam, part 4, Uttara Khanda, edited by V. N. Mandlik; Poona: Anandashrama Press, 1894; title page, leaf n5). An anonymous Sanskrit text: public domain. Read on the page images and retold in our own words. (chapter 58, pp. 1366–1367 (leaves n148–n149))
Sources
- Ekadashi name and month: the Pujadeep calendar's table of Ekadashi names.
- Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, Anandashrama edition (Poona, 1894), chapter 58. (pp. 1366–1367 (leaves n148–n149))
- Ekadashi Mahatmya (Pune: Jagaddhitechhu Press, 1890). (folios 76–77 (leaves n152–n154))
Questions families ask
When do I break the Ekadashi fast?
Breaking the fast is called parana. For Aja Ekadashi in Washington DC: Saturday, August 28, 2027, 8:26 AM – 9:11 AM. Break the fast after Hari Vasara (the first quarter of Dwadashi), within pratahkala (the first fifth of the day).
Why can the Smarta and Vaishnava dates differ?
Each tradition has its own rule. Smarta rule: fast on the day Ekadashi prevails at sunrise (Dashami at sunrise spoils the day). Vaishnava rule (Gaudiya): Dashami prevails during arunodaya (96 minutes before sunrise), so the fast moves to the next day. How we compute dates
More Ekadashis
Source and licence
- Our explanation
- Written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against them. Free to quote with credit.
- Checked
- Checked against the sources listed, October 14, 2026.
- Updated
- October 15, 2026