01What Vijaya Ekadashi is
Vijaya Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the dark half of Magha in the amanta calendar, which purnimanta calendars place in Phalguna. It is kept in February or early March, at the turn from winter to spring, a few days after Maha Shivaratri in some years and before it in others. Vijaya means victory, and its account belongs to the Ramayana: the tradition holds that Rama kept this Ekadashi before crossing the ocean to Lanka. The account is told by Krishna to Yudhishthira.
Calendars that end the month at the new moon (amanta, used in the south and west) name it the Krishna Ekadashi of Magha; those that end it at the full moon (purnimanta, used in the north) name it the Krishna Ekadashi of Phalguna. It is the same day.
02The story told of it
Rama had reached the shore of the ocean with Lakshmana and the army of vanaras, and the sea lay between him and Sita. Lakshmana spoke of the sage Bakadalbhya, whose ashram was nearby, and Rama went to ask his counsel. The sage told him of the Ekadashi of Magha's dark half, and of the way to keep it with a sacred pot of water. Rama kept it with his companions, and the account says the way across the sea was opened to him and victory followed.
03How the fast is kept
What is particular to Vijaya is the kalasha the sage described. On Dashami a pot of gold, silver, copper or clay is filled with water, set on a bed of grain and dressed with mango leaves, and an image of Vishnu is placed on it. It is worshipped through the Ekadashi with a night vigil, and on Dwadashi given away. Many keep the day before an undertaking that matters to them. The fast is the ordinary one, from sunrise to the next day's parana.
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 2:02 PM on 4 March, before sunrise, so parana runs from sunrise at 6:31 AM to the end of Pratahkal at 8:53 AM on 5 March.
- Sunrise6:31 AM on 5 Mar
- Hari Vasara ends2:02 PM on 4 March
- Parana window6:31 – 8:53 AM
- Dwadashi ends9:54 AM on 5 March
05Why 4 March
- In Nagpur: This year the Ekadashi tithi is current at two sunrises. The tradition then keeps the fast on the second, 4 March.
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.
06Vijaya Ekadashi in other years
- 2026Friday, 13 February · parana 6:45 – 9:02 AM
- 2027Thursday, 4 March · parana 6:31 – 8:53 AM
- 2028Sunday, 20 February · parana 1:37 – 3:56 PM
