01What Jaya Ekadashi is
Jaya Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the bright half of Magha, kept in late January or in February, as winter eases and a few days after Vasant Panchami. Jaya means victory. The account, told by Krishna to Yudhishthira, is set among the gandharvas of Indra's court, and the day is given to Vishnu, worshipped as Madhava in many homes. In some regions it is called Bhaimi Ekadashi. Magha is a month the tradition counts especially holy for bathing and giving, and Jaya falls in its brightest fortnight.
It is the Magha Shukla Ekadashi in both ways of naming the lunar months.
02The story told of it
In Indra's court, the gandharva Malyavan and the apsara Pushpavati were to sing and dance before the gods, but they were so taken with each other that their art fell apart. Indra, displeased, cursed them to live as pishachas in the Himalaya. There, in bitter cold, on the Ekadashi of Magha's bright half they were too miserable to eat and too cold to sleep, and spent the night in regret. The account says this unintended fast and vigil freed them, and they returned to Indra's court in their own forms.
03How the fast is kept
Jaya is kept in the ordinary Ekadashi way, a fast from sunrise to the next day's parana, with grains and beans left out even in the lighter forms. Since the account turns on a night kept awake, many families keep a vigil with kirtan before Vishnu. Magha bathing, in a river or at home before sunrise, is often joined to the day, and the tradition commends gifts of sesame, warm clothing and food. The account also gives the day a reminder: to give one's full attention to the work one has undertaken.
What is eaten on the fast
Commonly eaten- Fruit
- Milk, curd and paneer
- Nuts and dry fruit
- Sabudana
- Kuttu and singhara flour
- Potato and sweet potato
- Sendha namak (rock salt)
Commonly left out- Rice
- Wheat and other grains
- Dal and beans
- Onion and garlic
- Ordinary salt, in many homes
Families choose the strictness that suits them. Anyone who is unwell, pregnant or elderly keeps a lighter form.
04When to break the fast
The fast is broken on the morning after, the Dwadashi, and the tradition sets three limits on when. It must be after sunrise. It must not fall in Hari Vasara, the first quarter of Dwadashi. And it must be inside Dwadashi itself, ideally in Pratahkal, the first fifth of the daylight, and not in Madhyahna, the middle fifth. This time Hari Vasara ends at 10:46 PM on 17 February, before sunrise, so parana runs from sunrise at 6:57 AM to the end of Pratahkal at 9:14 AM on 18 February.
- Sunrise6:57 AM on 18 Feb
- Hari Vasara ends10:46 PM on 17 February
- Parana window6:57 – 9:14 AM
- Dwadashi ends2:28 PM on 18 February
05Why 17 February
- In Indore: It is kept on 17 February because the Ekadashi tithi is current at sunrise that morning (6:58 AM).
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.
06Jaya Ekadashi in other years
- 2026Thursday, 29 January · parana 7:07 – 9:20 AM
- 2027Wednesday, 17 February · parana 6:57 – 9:14 AM
- 2028Sunday, 6 February · parana 2:47 – 4:03 PM
