Ekadashi fast
Indira Ekadashi 2027: date, parana time and vrat katha
इंदिरा एकादशी
Indira Ekadashi 2027 is on Sunday, September 26 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). Break the fast on Monday, September 27, between 7:00 and 7:25 AM.
Eat between 7:00 and 7:25 AM on Monday, September 27.
- Fast
Sunday, September 26, 2027
Washington DC. Smarta and Vaishnava agree.
- Break the fast
Monday, September 27, 2027, 7:00–7:25 AM
Smarta rule.
Same date in India (New Delhi).
Vaishnava parana: Mon 27 Sep, 7:00–7:25 AM.
Why this time
Break the fast after sunrise, before Dwadashi ends.
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: 6:59 AM
- Ekadashi ends: 10:19 AM, then Dwadashi
- Abhijit muhurat: 12:35 to 1:23 PM
- Rahu Kaal: 5:29 to 6:59 PM
- Sunset: 6:59 PM
- Pradosh (after sunset): 6:59 to 9:23 PM
- Next sunrise: 7:00 AM +1 day
- Nakshatra: Ashlesha until 1:04 AM, 27 Sep
- Nakshatra: Magha until 10:51 PM, 27 Sep
Tomorrow, Monday, September 27: 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, before Dwadashi ends.
Indira Ekadashi is on Sunday, September 26, 2027 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). Break the fast on Monday, September 27, 2027, 7:00 AM – 7:25 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.
Bhadrapada Krishna in the amanta calendar; Ashvina Krishna in the purnimanta calendar
Indira is the Ekadashi of the dark half of Ashvina (Bhadrapada in the amanta calendar). It falls in Pitru Paksha, the fortnight of the ancestors, and its story is about a son who keeps the fast for his father.
Written for Pujadeep and checked against the sources listed. See the sources
When it falls
Next for Washington DC: Sunday, September 26, 2027. Parana: Monday, September 27, 2027, 7:00 AM – 7:25 AM. Other cities can differ. Every Ekadashi of 2027 by city.
The story
In the age of truth, King Indrasena ruled the city of Mahishmati. He was a devotee of Vishnu and spent his days chanting the names of Govinda. One day the sage Narada came down from the sky to his court. The king welcomed him with honour and asked why he had come.
Narada said that he had come from the world of Brahma by way of the world of Yama, the lord of the dead. There, in Yama's court, he had seen the king's father. The father had done much good in his life, but once he had broken a vow, and so he waited there. He had sent a message to his son: "Keep the Indira Ekadashi and give its merit to me, so that I can go to heaven."
The king asked how to keep it, and Narada told him. On the day before, bathe in the morning and at noon, eat one meal, and sleep on the ground. On the Ekadashi, keep the fast, and at midday offer shraddha for the ancestors before a shalagrama stone; give the offered food to a cow; worship Vishnu, and stay awake at night. On the next day, worship, feed brahmins, and then eat in silence with your family.
Indrasena kept the fast with all his household, just as Narada had said. Flowers fell from the sky, and his father rose on Garuda to Vishnu's abode. In time Indrasena gave his kingdom to his son and went to heaven himself.
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 60, 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 60, pp. 1369–1370 (leaves n151–n152))
Sources
- Ekadashi name and month: the Pujadeep calendar's table of Ekadashi names.
- Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, Anandashrama edition (Poona, 1894), chapter 60. (pp. 1369–1370 (leaves n151–n152))
Questions families ask
When do I break the Ekadashi fast?
Breaking the fast is called parana. For Indira Ekadashi in Washington DC: Monday, September 27, 2027, 7:00 AM – 7:25 AM. Break the fast after sunrise, before Dwadashi ends.
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 27, 2026