Ekadashi fast
Kamika Ekadashi 2027: date, parana time and vrat katha
कामिका एकादशी
Kamika Ekadashi 2027 is on Thursday, July 29 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). Break the fast on Friday, July 30, between 6:07 and 8:58 AM.
Eat between 6:07 and 8:58 AM on Friday, July 30.
- Fast
Thursday, July 29, 2027
Washington DC. Smarta and Vaishnava agree.
- Break the fast
Friday, July 30, 2027, 6:07–8:58 AM
Smarta rule.
Same date in India (New Delhi).
Vaishnava parana: Fri 30 Jul, 6:07–10:51 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: 6:06 AM
- Abhijit muhurat: 12:45 to 1:42 PM
- Rahu Kaal: 3:01 to 4:48 PM
- Ekadashi ends: 7:43 PM, then Dwadashi
- Sunset: 8:22 PM
- Pradosh (after sunset): 8:22 to 10:19 PM
- Next sunrise: 6:07 AM +1 day
- Nakshatra: Rohini until 5:58 PM
- Nakshatra: Mrigashira until 3:54 PM, 30 Jul
Tomorrow, Friday, July 30: 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).
Kamika Ekadashi is on Thursday, July 29, 2027 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). Break the fast on Friday, July 30, 2027, 6:07 AM – 8:58 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.
Ashadha Krishna in the amanta calendar; Shravana Krishna in the purnimanta calendar
Kamika is the Ekadashi of the dark half of Shravana (Ashadha in the amanta calendar), the first Ekadashi of Chaturmas. Its teaching is about the tulsi plant and the lamp: Vishnu is worshipped as Shridhara with tulsi leaves, and a lamp is lit for the ancestors.
Written for Pujadeep and checked against the sources listed. See the sources
When it falls
Next for Washington DC: Thursday, July 29, 2027. Parana: Friday, July 30, 2027, 6:07 AM – 8:58 AM. Other cities can differ. Every Ekadashi of 2027 by city.
The story
Families today tell this tale with Kamika. In a village there lived a kshatriya (a man of the warrior class), a strong man with a quick temper. One day he quarrelled with a Brahmin, the quarrel turned to blows, and the Brahmin died. The kshatriya was full of sorrow. He wished to take part in the Brahmin's last rites, but the Brahmins of the village would not let him: first, they said, he must make amends for so grave a wrong. He asked humbly what he should do, and he was told to keep this Ekadashi, of the dark half of Shravana: to fast, to worship Vishnu, and to feed and honour Brahmins. He kept the fast with a true heart. The tale says that the wrong was lifted from him. Some tellings add that in the night Vishnu came to him, in a dream or a vision, and told him that he was forgiven.
In the Padma Purana, Brahma tells Narada about this Ekadashi. On this day Vishnu is worshipped as Shridhara, "he who holds Shri", Lakshmi. Brahma says that tulsi leaves are dearer to Vishnu than pearls and precious stones, and that to see the tulsi plant, touch it, water it, plant it and bow to it is itself a form of worship. Whoever lights a lamp of ghee or sesame oil before Vishnu on this Ekadashi, the text says, brings joy to the ancestors. This is the text's claim, not a promise. Families keep the day with a tulsi leaf, a lamp and a quiet evening.
About this telling
The tale of the kshatriya and the Brahmin is told in present-day vrat-katha books and on many websites; one credits it to the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, and most name no Purana. No printed Sanskrit text of it was found in the printings read for this page (printed 1930 or earlier), and the Padma Purana's chapter on this day has only Brahma's teaching. The retelling is ours, from the facts those versions agree on. They differ on details: in some, a sage, not the village Brahmins, tells him to keep the fast, only some tell of Vishnu coming to him in the night, and in some the village shuts him out, with nothing said of the last rites.
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
- The tale of the kshatriya and the Brahmin: present-day vrat-katha tellings on the web, read 22 Oct 2026 for the facts they agree on (Bhakti Bharat, "Kamika Ekadashi Vrat Katha"). Not copied; retold in our own words.
- The tale of the kshatriya and the Brahmin: Navbharat Live, the Kamika Ekadashi katha, read 22 Oct 2026 for the facts. Not copied.
- The tale of the kshatriya and the Brahmin: Daanyam, Kamika Ekadashi, read 22 Oct 2026 for the facts. Not copied.
- Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, chapter 56, 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 56, pp. 1362–1364 (leaves n144–n146))
Sources
- Ekadashi name and month: the Pujadeep calendar's table of Ekadashi names.
- Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, Anandashrama edition (Poona, 1894), chapter 56. (pp. 1362–1364 (leaves n144–n146))
- The tale of the kshatriya and the Brahmin, as told today (web pages read 22 Oct 2026): Bhakti Bharat, Navbharat Live, Daanyam and a published panchang's website agree on the plot and differ on details.
Questions families ask
When do I break the Ekadashi fast?
Breaking the fast is called parana. For Kamika Ekadashi in Washington DC: Friday, July 30, 2027, 6:07 AM – 8:58 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 28, 2026.