01What Padmini Ekadashi is
Padmini Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the bright half of an adhik month, the extra month the lunar calendar adds about once every three years to keep pace with the solar year. It comes only in a year that has an adhik month, and its date depends on which month is doubled. It is also called Kamala Ekadashi; both names mean the lotus. The tradition gives the whole adhik month to Vishnu as Purushottama, which is why it is called Purushottama Masa, and Padmini is its first Ekadashi.
It falls only in a year with an adhik (extra) lunar month, which comes about every three years; the extra month takes the name of the month it doubles.
02The story told of it
The account Krishna gives Yudhishthira tells of Queen Padmini, wife of King Kritavirya of Mahishmati, after whom the day is named. The king and queen had gone to the forest for long austerities. Padmini sought the counsel of Anasuya, wife of the sage Atri, who is honoured in the tradition as the model of devotion. Anasuya taught her the Ekadashi of the adhik month's bright half and how to keep it. Padmini kept it faithfully, and the account says that Vishnu was pleased and blessed the royal house.
03How the fast is kept
Because it comes so rarely, the tradition counts Padmini among the most valued Ekadashis, and many who keep no other in the year keep this one. The fast runs from sunrise to the next day's parana, with grains and beans left out even in the lighter forms. Vishnu is worshipped as Purushottama, and many families keep a night vigil with kirtan and readings. Through the adhik month many also keep a daily reading, lamp or charity, and Padmini falls in the middle of that practice.
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 Dwadashi ends at 07:57, inside Pratahkal, so parana must be finished by then: from 05:25 to 07:57 on 28 May.
- Sunrise05:25 on 28 May
- Hari Vasara ends12:46 on 27 May
- Parana window05:25 – 07:57
- Dwadashi ends07:57 on 28 May
05Why this day, and why dates differ
This year the Ekadashi tithi is current at two sunrises. The tradition then keeps the fast on the second, 27 May.
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.
06Padmini Ekadashi in other years
- 2026Wednesday, 27 May · parana 05:25 to 07:57
