01What Parama Ekadashi is
Parama Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the dark half of an adhik month, the extra month the lunar calendar adds about once every three years to keep pace with the solar year. Like Padmini, it comes only in a year that has an adhik month, and it is the second and last Ekadashi of that month. It is also called Purushottami Ekadashi, after Purushottama, the form of Vishnu to whom the adhik month is given. Parama means the highest, and the tradition holds the day in that regard.
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
Krishna tells Yudhishthira of Sumedha, a brahmin of Kampilya, and his wife Pavitra, who lived in deep poverty but never failed to share what little they had with guests. Sumedha thought of leaving to seek his fortune elsewhere, but Pavitra asked him to stay. When the sage Kaundinya came to their door, they served him with what they had, and he told them of Parama Ekadashi and a five-night observance kept with it. They kept it together, and the account says their household prospered.
03How the fast is kept
The fast is the ordinary one, from sunrise to the next day's parana, with Vishnu worshipped as Purushottama. What is particular to Parama is the pancharatri, the five-night observance of the account, which some devoted households keep from the Ekadashi onward with fasting or simple fruit and milk, worship each day and a vigil. The tradition commends hospitality and gifts to those in need. Families keep a lighter form when age, pregnancy or a doctor's advice calls for it.
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 03:52 on 12 June, before sunrise, so parana runs from sunrise at 05:23 to the end of Pratahkal at 08:10 on 12 June.
- Sunrise05:23 on 12 Jun
- Hari Vasara ends03:52 on 12 June
- Parana window05:23 – 08:10
- Dwadashi ends19:37 on 12 June
05Why this day, and why dates differ
It is kept on 11 June because the Ekadashi tithi is current at sunrise that morning (05:23).
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.
06Parama Ekadashi in other years
- 2026Thursday, 11 June · parana 05:23 to 08:10
