Dev Uthani Ekadashi: What, Why, When, How

What it is

Dev Uthani Ekadashi, "the Ekadashi when God rises", also called Prabodhini, Devutthana or Kartiki Ekadashi, is the Ekadashi of the bright half of Kartika, about eleven days after Diwali. Tradition holds that Vishnu sleeps for four months of the rainy season, from Devshayani Ekadashi in Ashadha, and wakes on this day. Many families keep those four months as Chaturmas, a time of vows and study, and for them this day ends it.

Families fast, worship Vishnu in the evening and sing to wake him. In many families the season of weddings and other family ceremonies begins again after this day. Many families celebrate Tulsi Vivah, the wedding of the tulsi plant to Vishnu, on this Ekadashi or on one of the next few days. In Maharashtra this Kartiki Ekadashi brings great crowds of pilgrims to Vitthal at Pandharpur.

Why it is kept

Vishnu's sleep and waking. The Puranas describe Vishnu resting on the great serpent Shesha in the ocean, and the Ekadashi tradition says that he sleeps through the four months of the rains and wakes on the bright Ekadashi of Kartika. Families explain that the rainy months were a time to stay home, keep vows and study, and that the waking of the Lord marks the return of the season for weddings, travel and new beginnings.

Tulsi Vivah. The tulsi plant is honoured as a goddess, dear to Vishnu. A Puranic story told for this day says that Vrinda, a devoted wife, became the tulsi plant, and that Vishnu, as the sacred stone Shaligram, accepted her as his bride. Families celebrate this wedding with all the signs of a real one. It is a tradition; families keep it on the Ekadashi, on the Dwadashi that follows, or on another day up to the full moon.

Vitthal at Pandharpur. In Maharashtra the two great Ekadashis of the year, Ashadhi and Kartiki, draw the Varkari pilgrims to the temple of Vitthal at Pandharpur, singing the songs of the Marathi saints.

The texts behind the story

• Vishnu's four-month sleep and his waking on Kartika Shukla Ekadashi, and the story of Vrinda and Tulsi Vivah: Puranic and vrat-katha tradition. Summarised in our own words; no Purana was read.
• Hindu Holidays and Ceremonials, with dissertations on origin, folklore and symbols, by B. A. Gupte (Calcutta: Thacker, Spink, 1916) (Chaturmas, pp. 27–28 (leaves n82–n83); Prabodhini Ekadashi, p. 47 (leaf n102); Tulsi's marriage and the Vrinda story, pp. 225–227 (leaves n280–n282))
• Brâhmanism and Hindûism; or, Religious Thought and Life in India, by Sir Monier Monier-Williams, fourth edition (New York: Macmillan, 1891) (Pandharpur pilgrimages in Ashadha and Karttika, p. 264 (leaf n299); the marriage of the Tulasi in Karttika, pp. 334–335 (leaves n369–n370))

When it is kept

Dev Uthani Ekadashi is the Shukla Ekadashi of Kartika, kept on the Ekadashi fast day of your tradition. Smarta rule, as in the Nirnayasindhu and Dharmasindhu: fast on the day on which Ekadashi is present at sunrise at your location. If it is present at two sunrises, families fast on the first day; the second is for sannyasis. If Dvadashi will be over by the sunrise after that day, householders fast on the day Ekadashi begins, even though Dashami is present at its sunrise. Vaishnava rule, as computed by the GCal program: Ekadashi must already be present at arunodaya, 96 minutes before sunrise; if Dashami still touches that time, the fast moves to the next day. In some years one of GCal's eight Mahadvadashi rules moves the fast to Dvadashi, and the app names that Mahadvadashi. The fast is broken on the next day within the parana window the app shows. Each tradition has its own parana rule, and the window usually opens after sunrise and after the first quarter of Dvadashi. The Smarta rule avoids parana at midday (madhyahna), so in some years its window is in the afternoon. The app treats Dev Uthani as this Ekadashi fast day because published calendars do; no text was read for that choice. Tulsi Vivah has its own rule in the app (engine id tulsi-vivah): the Dwadashi present in the evening (pradosh); if it is present in pradosh on two days, the first.

The date, from the calendar engine

• Dev Uthani Ekadashi 2027: Dev Uthani Ekadashi falls on Tuesday, November 9, 2027 in Washington DC (Smarta rule, computed for this city). In New Delhi it falls on Wednesday, November 10, 2027.

The date depends on your city. Every city we cover is on the year page.

Traditions and regional customs

• Smarta (Nirnayasindhu, Dharmasindhu): Ekadashi at sunrise; if Dvadashi is lost, householders fast on the day Ekadashi begins
• Vaishnava (GCal): Ekadashi at arunodaya; a Mahadvadashi can move the fast to Dvadashi
• Marathi Varkari: Kartiki Ekadashi at Pandharpur
• Tulsi Vivah: on this Ekadashi or on the Dwadashi in pradosh (engine id tulsi-vivah)

Why the day can differ

The Smarta and Vaishnava rules can give different days, and the app shows both. Sunrise is local, so cities can differ too. Families differ on whether Tulsi Vivah is on the Ekadashi, the Dwadashi, or any day up to Kartik Purnima; follow your family's custom.

How to keep it at home

1. Keep the Ekadashi fast as your tradition does, and bathe in the morning. Clean the home and the puja place.
2. In the evening, worship Vishnu with tulsi leaves, a lamp, incense, flowers and seasonal produce such as sugarcane, water chestnuts and sweet potato. In many North Indian homes families draw the Lord's footprints on the floor, cover an image or the drawing with a sieve or a basket, and then lift it while singing and ringing bells or tapping a plate, to "wake" him.
3. Prayers often said: the Vishnu Sahasranama, "Om Namo Narayanaya", and the folk songs for waking the Lord. Maharashtrian families sing abhangas to Vitthal.
4. Tulsi Vivah, if your family keeps it: decorate the tulsi pot like a bride with a red cloth and bangles, build a small canopy of sugarcane, place a Shaligram or an image of Vishnu beside it, and perform a short wedding with a garland, a sacred thread and circling. Share sweets as at a wedding.
5. The next day, break the fast within the parana window shown in the app (in some years it is in the afternoon).

Fasting

The Ekadashi fast leaves out grains and beans. Some keep a full fast, many take fruit and milk, and many eat one meal of fasting food. Anyone who is pregnant, unwell, diabetic, elderly or on regular medicine should keep a light fast, or none, and talk to a doctor first.

Food

Seasonal fasting food: sweet potato, water chestnuts, sugarcane, fruit, makhana and milk sweets. After parana, and at Tulsi Vivah, families share sweets such as laddoos and kheer.

For children

Families say that Lord Vishnu takes a long rest during the four rainy months, lying on a giant coiled snake in the ocean. When the rains end and the sky is clear, it is time for him to wake up. So on this day families sing happy songs and ring bells to say, "Good morning, Lord! Please wake up!" Many families also hold a little wedding for the tulsi plant, with sweets for everyone.

Something to do together

Decorate a small tulsi or other potted plant with a ribbon and a paper flower garland, and help ring the bell when the family sings to wake the Lord.

Sources

• Panchang engine rules dev-uthani-ekadashi, ekadashi and tulsi-vivah (packages/panchang/data/festivals.json), with the sources each lists and the dates checked in packages/panchang/test/festivals-added.test.ts.
• A. Hudli, Ekadashi rules from the Nirnayasindhu, Dharmasindhu and Kala-Madhava (Advaita-L, 2010), the engine's source for the Smarta rule.
• Vaisnava Events Calculation in GCAL (GCal algorithm documentation, 2008), the engine's source for the Vaishnava rule.
• Hindu Holidays and Ceremonials, with dissertations on origin, folklore and symbols, by B. A. Gupte (Calcutta: Thacker, Spink, 1916) (pp. 27–28, 47, 206, 225–227 (leaves n82–n83, n102, n261, n280–n282): Chaturmas, Shayana and Prabodhini Ekadashi, Tulsi's marriage between the 11th and the 15th of bright Kartik, and the marriage season that follows)
• Brâhmanism and Hindûism; or, Religious Thought and Life in India, by Sir Monier Monier-Williams, fourth edition (New York: Macmillan, 1891) (p. 264 (leaf n299): Pandharpur pilgrims in Ashadha and Karttika; pp. 334–335 (leaves n369–n370): the Tulasi married to the Sala-grama stone)

Related guides

• Kartik Purnima
• Nirjala Ekadashi
• Vaikuntha Ekadashi
• Tulsi Vivah