01How each day is chosen
An Ekadashi is kept on the day its tithi is current at sunrise in your city. Three exceptions follow from the tradition's rules: a tithi that touches no sunrise is kept on the day it begins; one that is current at two sunrises is kept on the second; and when the Dwadashi after it ends before the next sunrise, the fast moves a day earlier so that it can still be broken within Dwadashi.
In 2028, for New Delhi, these Ekadashis are decided by one of the exceptions:
- Jaya Ekadashi: This year the Dwadashi after it ends before the following sunrise, so a fast kept on the later day could not be broken within Dwadashi. The fast therefore moves a day earlier, to 6 February. Vaishnava calendars keep the later day.
- Kamada Ekadashi: This year the Ekadashi tithi begins after one sunrise and ends before the next, so it touches no sunrise at all. Such a tithi is kept on the day it begins, 5 April.
- Utpanna Ekadashi: This year the Dwadashi after it ends before the following sunrise, so a fast kept on the later day could not be broken within Dwadashi. The fast therefore moves a day earlier, to 12 November. Vaishnava calendars keep the later day.
02Parana, breaking the fast
The fast is broken on the morning after, the Dwadashi: after sunrise, never in Hari Vasara (the first quarter of Dwadashi), within Dwadashi, and ideally in Pratahkal, the first fifth of the daylight. When Hari Vasara runs past Pratahkal, the tradition avoids midday and breaks the fast in the afternoon instead, which is why a few windows in the list above fall after 13:00.
03The names, month by month
Each of the twenty-four has its own name and its own account in the tradition. Calendars that end the month at the new moon (amanta) and those that end it at the full moon (purnimanta, used in the north) name the Krishna paksha Ekadashi one month apart; the day is the same. An adhik (extra) month brings two more, Padmini and Parama.
04Smarta and Vaishnava dates
Two things move an Ekadashi. The first is your city: the day is decided by sunrise, and sunrise in India differs by more than an hour from Kolkata to Ahmedabad, so a city can keep an Ekadashi a day apart from another when the tithi changes near dawn. Change the city above to see yours. The second is the tradition: the dates here are the Smarta ones most households follow. Vaishnava calendars, ISKCON's among them, judge the day from arunodaya, about an hour and a half before sunrise, and sometimes keep the fast a day later.
