01What Mohini Ekadashi is
Mohini Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the bright half of Vaishakha, kept in late April or in May, in the high heat before the monsoon. It takes its name from Mohini, the enchanting form Vishnu took when the ocean of milk was churned: when the devas and asuras quarrelled over the amrita, Vishnu appeared as Mohini, held the asuras' attention and served the amrita to the devas. The tradition reads the name in two ways, as the day of that form of Vishnu and as a day that loosens the hold of what enchants and distracts.
It is the Vaishakha Shukla Ekadashi in both ways of naming the lunar months.
02The story told of it
Krishna tells Yudhishthira the account as Vasishtha once told it to Rama. In the city of Bhadravati, on the Saraswati river, lived a generous merchant named Dhanapala, whose youngest son Dhrishtabuddhi spent the family's wealth on gambling and bad company until he was turned out of the house. Wandering without means, he reached the ashram of the sage Kaundinya after the sage's bath in the Ganga, and asked him how to change the course of his life. Kaundinya told him of Mohini Ekadashi; he kept it, and the account says his life was set right.
03How the fast is kept
Mohini 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, and the day given to Vishnu. Because the account turns on a young man taking advice and changing course, many families read or tell it aloud on the day, and the churning of the ocean is often recited with it. In the heat of Vaishakha, giving water, curd, fruit and fans is a common charity, and the fast is broken on Dwadashi morning after an offering to Vishnu.
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 11:03 PM on 16 May, before sunrise, so parana runs from sunrise at 5:46 AM to the end of Pratahkal at 8:25 AM on 17 May.
- Sunrise5:46 AM on 17 May
- Hari Vasara ends11:03 PM on 16 May
- Parana window5:46 – 8:25 AM
- Dwadashi ends4:29 PM on 17 May
05Why 16 May
- In Indore: It is kept on 16 May because the Ekadashi tithi is current at sunrise that morning (5:46 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.
06Mohini Ekadashi in other years
- 2026Monday, 27 April · parana 5:56 – 8:32 AM
- 2027Sunday, 16 May · parana 5:46 – 8:25 AM
- 2028Friday, 5 May · parana 5:51 – 8:28 AM
