Ekadashi fast
Amalaki Ekadashi 2027: date, parana time and vrat katha
आमलकी एकादशी
Amalaki Ekadashi 2027 is on Thursday, March 18 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). Break the fast on Friday, March 19, between 7:13 and 9:38 AM.
Eat between 7:13 and 9:38 AM on Friday, March 19.
- Fast
Thursday, March 18, 2027
Washington DC. Smarta and Vaishnava agree.
- Break the fast
Friday, March 19, 2027, 7:13–9:38 AM
Smarta rule.
Same date in India (New Delhi).
Vaishnava parana: Fri 19 Mar, 7:13–11:15 AM.
Why this time
Break the fast after sunrise, 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: 7:15 AM
- Abhijit muhurat: 12:52 to 1:40 PM
- Rahu Kaal: 2:46 to 4:17 PM
- Ekadashi ends: 4:21 PM, then Dwadashi
- Sunset: 7:18 PM
- Pradosh (after sunset): 7:18 to 9:41 PM
- Next sunrise: 7:13 AM +1 day
- Nakshatra: Pushya until 5:51 PM
- Nakshatra: Ashlesha until 4:02 PM, 19 Mar
Tomorrow, Friday, March 19: 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.
The first part of the night after sunset. Evening pujas such as Lakshmi Puja follow it.
Break the fast after sunrise, within pratahkala (the first fifth of the day).
Amalaki Ekadashi is on Thursday, March 18, 2027 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). Break the fast on Friday, March 19, 2027, 7:13 AM – 9:38 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.
Phalguna Shukla (the same month in the amanta and purnimanta calendars)
Amalaki is the amla tree, the Indian gooseberry. On the Ekadashi of the bright half of Phalguna, a few days before Holi, families worship Vishnu under or beside an amla tree. Two old printings tell two stories for it: one about the tree itself, and one about a hunter.
Written for Pujadeep and checked against the sources listed. See the sources
When it falls
Next for Washington DC: Thursday, March 18, 2027. Parana: Friday, March 19, 2027, 7:13 AM – 9:38 AM. Other cities can differ. Every Ekadashi of 2027 by city.
The story
The first tree. In the Padma Purana the sage Vasishtha tells King Mandhata how the amla tree began. At the dawn of creation, when all was one ocean, Brahma appeared. A drop fell from his mouth to the earth, shining like the moon, and from it grew the amla tree, the first of all trees. The gods and sages wondered at it, and a voice from the sky told them that Vishnu lives at its root, Brahma above it, Shiva in its trunk, the sages in its branches and the gods in its leaves and flowers. So the amla is worshipped on this Ekadashi: families clean the ground around the tree, set up a pot of water with an image of Parashurama, offer lamps and flowers, walk round the tree, and keep the night's vigil with songs and the stories of Vishnu.
The hunter. The Ekadashi Mahatmya printed at Pune tells another story. In the city of King Chaitraratha everyone kept this Ekadashi with a vigil at the temple, beside the amla tree, with lamps burning all night. A hungry hunter, who killed animals to feed his family, saw the lamps and sat down to watch. All night he listened to the story of Ekadashi and could not sleep. In the morning he went home and ate. Later, because of that one night of fasting and listening, he was born again as Vasuratha, son of King Viduratha of Jayanti, a strong and generous king. Once, alone and lost on a hunt, he lay asleep under a tree when a band of armed men came to attack him. Their weapons could not touch him, and a shining power came from his body and drove them away. A voice said that Keshava, Vishnu, had protected him.
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 47, 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 47, pp. 1346–1349 (leaves n128–n131))
- Ekadashi Mahatmya, the Sanskrit stories of the Ekadashis as Krishna tells them to Yudhishthira, printed as a pothi (Pune: Ravji Shridhar Gondhalekar, Jagaddhitechhu Press, first edition, Shaka 1812, that is 1890; imprint, leaf n215). Its colophons assign the stories to the Bhavishyottara, Brahmavaivarta and Skanda Puranas. An anonymous Sanskrit text: public domain. Read on the page images and retold in our own words. The hunter and Vasuratha. (folios 29–32 (leaves n60–n65))
Sources
- Ekadashi name and month: the Pujadeep calendar's table of Ekadashi names.
- Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, Anandashrama edition (Poona, 1894), chapter 47. (pp. 1346–1349 (leaves n128–n131))
- Ekadashi Mahatmya (Pune: Jagaddhitechhu Press, 1890). (folios 29–32 (leaves n60–n65))
Questions families ask
When do I break the Ekadashi fast?
Breaking the fast is called parana. For Amalaki Ekadashi in Washington DC: Friday, March 19, 2027, 7:13 AM – 9:38 AM. Break the fast after sunrise, 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): Ekadashi prevails from arunodaya (96 minutes before sunrise) through sunrise. 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