01What Nirjala Ekadashi is
Nirjala Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the bright half of Jyeshtha, kept in late May or in June. Nirjala means without water, and the name is the rule: the tradition describes it as the strictest Ekadashi of the year, kept without food and without water from sunrise on the Ekadashi until parana the next morning. It falls in the hottest weeks of the North Indian year, which is a large part of why the tradition holds it in such regard, and why it is the one Ekadashi many families keep even when they keep no other.
It is the Jyeshtha Shukla Ekadashi in both ways of naming the lunar months.
02The story told of it
The story told of it belongs to the Mahabharata cycle. Bhima, the second of the Pandavas, could not keep the twice-monthly fasts his brothers and Draupadi kept, because his hunger would not allow it. He asked the sage Vyasa for a way, and Vyasa told him of one Ekadashi in the year which, kept without even water, the tradition counts as equal to all twenty-four. Bhima kept it, and the day is still called Bhimseni or Pandava Ekadashi after him.
03How the fast is kept
The tradition's form is a full fast from sunrise to the next day's parana, with no food and no water; even water for rinsing the mouth is traditionally kept to a sip. The day is given to Vishnu: worship in the morning, the Vishnu Sahasranama or the Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya mantra, and for many families a night of kirtan. Because the fast falls in the heat, the tradition makes giving water its particular charity: a pot of water, a fan, an umbrella or sherbet for passers-by. Families keep a lighter form, with water or with fruit and milk, when age, pregnancy or a doctor's advice calls for it, and the tradition itself allows for that.
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 lasts until 8:14 AM on 15 June, past the end of Pratahkal, and Madhyahna is avoided, so parana moves to the afternoon: from 1:32 PM to 4:17 PM on 15 June.
- Sunrise5:15 AM on 15 Jun
- Hari Vasara ends8:14 AM on 15 June
- Parana window1:32 – 4:17 PM
- Dwadashi ends2:31 AM on 16 June
05Why 14 June
- In Kanpur: It is kept on 14 June because the Ekadashi tithi is current at sunrise that morning (5:15 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.
06Nirjala Ekadashi in other years
- 2026Thursday, 25 June · parana 5:18 – 8:03 AM
- 2027Monday, 14 June · parana 1:32 – 4:17 PM
- 2028Saturday, 3 June · parana 5:15 – 8:00 AM
