Ekadashi fast
Rama Ekadashi 2026: date, parana time and vrat katha
रमा एकादशी
Rama Ekadashi 2026 is on Wednesday, November 4 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). Break the fast on Thursday, November 5, between 6:39 and 8:44 AM.
Eat between 6:39 and 8:44 AM on Thursday, November 5.
- Fast
Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Washington DC. Smarta and Vaishnava agree.
- Break the fast
Thursday, November 5, 2026, 6:39–8:44 AM
Smarta rule.
- Fast in India
Thursday, November 5, 2026
New Delhi, same rule.
Vaishnava parana: Thu 5 Nov, 6:39–10:07 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: 6:38 AM
- Abhijit muhurat: 11:30 AM to 12:12 PM. Many panchangs do not use Abhijit on Wednesdays. Abhijit and Rahu Kaal overlap from 11:51 AM to 12:12 PM.
- Rahu Kaal: 11:51 AM to 1:09 PM
- Sunset: 5:04 PM
- Pradosh (after sunset): 5:04 to 7:47 PM
- Ekadashi ends: 12:06 AM +1 day, then Dwadashi
- Next sunrise: 6:39 AM +1 day
- Nakshatra: Purva Phalguni until 5:00 PM
- Nakshatra: Uttara Phalguni until 5:26 PM, 5 Nov
Tomorrow, Thursday, November 5: 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. Many panchangs do not use Abhijit on Wednesdays. Abhijit and Rahu Kaal overlap from 11:51 AM to 12:12 PM.
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).
Rama Ekadashi is on Wednesday, November 4, 2026 in Washington DC (Smarta rule). Break the fast on Thursday, November 5, 2026, 6:39 AM – 8:44 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.
Ashvina Krishna in the amanta calendar; Kartika Krishna in the purnimanta calendar
Rama (Ramā, a name of Lakshmi) is the Ekadashi of the dark half of Kartika (Ashvina in the amanta calendar), a few days before Diwali. Its story is about Chandrabhaga, a princess who had kept every Ekadashi since she was a child, and her husband Shobhana.
Written for Pujadeep and checked against the sources listed. See the sources
When it falls
Next for Washington DC: Wednesday, November 4, 2026. Parana: Thursday, November 5, 2026, 6:39 AM – 8:44 AM. Other cities can differ. Every Ekadashi of 2026 by city.
The story
King Muchukunda was a friend of Indra, Yama, Varuna, Kubera and Vibhishana, a devotee of Vishnu and a man of his word. His daughter Chandrabhaga married Shobhana, son of Chandrasena. Shobhana was not strong. Once he came to stay at his father-in-law's house just as an Ekadashi drew near. On the day before, a drum sounded through the city: in Muchukunda's kingdom no one ate on Hari's day, not even the animals.
Shobhana asked his wife what he should do. Chandrabhaga told him that in her father's house no one ate on Ekadashi, and that he must decide for himself. He chose to fast. The day was very hard for him, and the night, which the devotees spent in joyful vigil, was harder still. By sunrise he had died. Chandrabhaga stayed on in her father's house.
But the fast had not been in vain. Shobhana was given a shining city on Mandara mountain, with golden pillars and a jewelled throne. A brahmin from Muchukunda's city, Somasharma, saw him there on a pilgrimage. Shobhana explained that the city had come from the Rama Ekadashi fast, but because he had kept it without faith, the city would not last. Somasharma carried the news to Chandrabhaga. She went with him to the ashram of the sage Vamadeva near Mandara, and was given a divine form. She told Shobhana that she had kept every Ekadashi since she was eight years old, and she gave him the merit of all of them. His city became lasting, and the two lived there together.
About this telling
The text closes the chapter with a saying families still repeat: make no difference between the Ekadashis of the dark and the bright halves, for a white cow and a black cow give the same milk.
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 62, 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 62, pp. 1372–1374 (leaves n154–n156))
Sources
- Ekadashi name and month: the Pujadeep calendar's table of Ekadashi names.
- Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda, Anandashrama edition (Poona, 1894), chapter 62. (pp. 1372–1374 (leaves n154–n156))
Questions families ask
When do I break the Ekadashi fast?
Breaking the fast is called parana. For Rama Ekadashi in Washington DC: Thursday, November 5, 2026, 6:39 AM – 8:44 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 27, 2026