01What Varuthini Ekadashi is
Varuthini Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the dark half of Chaitra in the amanta calendar, which North Indian purnimanta calendars place in Vaishakha. It is kept in April or May, as the heat of the year begins to build. Varutha means armour or a protective cover, and the tradition reads the name that way: the day is described as a shield for the one who keeps it. Its account is told by Krishna to Yudhishthira, and the form of Vishnu most often worshipped on it is Varaha, the boar who lifted the earth from the waters.
Calendars that end the month at the new moon (amanta, used in the south and west) name it the Krishna Ekadashi of Chaitra; those that end it at the full moon (purnimanta, used in the north) name it the Krishna Ekadashi of Vaishakha. It is the same day.
02The story told of it
The account names several kings who kept the day, and tells most fully of Mandhata. He was absorbed in tapas in the forest when a bear seized his foot and dragged him; he did not break his meditation in anger but called on Vishnu, who came and drove the animal off. Vishnu then told him to go to Mathura, keep the Ekadashi of this fortnight and worship the Varaha form, and the account says that when Mandhata did so his body was made whole again.
03How the fast is kept
The tradition attaches unusually detailed rules to Varuthini, and many of them begin the day before. On Dashami one eats a single simple meal, and the mahatmya lists things to set aside: meals from vessels of bell metal, masoor dal, honey, betel, a second meal and the eating of others' food. On the Ekadashi itself the fast runs to the next day's parana, with Vishnu worshipped as Varaha. Giving is also stressed: the account praises the gift of food, and above all the gift of learning, as the highest charity of the day.
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 01:55 on 3 May, before sunrise, so parana runs from sunrise at 05:39 to the end of Pratahkal at 08:19 on 3 May.
- Sunrise05:39 on 3 May
- Hari Vasara ends01:55 on 3 May
- Parana window05:39 – 08:19
- Dwadashi ends20:05 on 3 May
05Why this day, and why dates differ
It is kept on 2 May because the Ekadashi tithi is current at sunrise that morning (05:40).
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.
06Varuthini Ekadashi in other years
- 2026Monday, 13 April · parana 06:55 to 08:31
- 2027Sunday, 2 May · parana 05:39 to 08:19
- 2028Thursday, 20 April · parana 05:49 to 08:26
