The window is the first fifth of the daylight (pratahkala).
Indira Ekadashi is not a Gregorian date. It is Krishna paksha tithi 11 of Bhadrapada in the amanta reckoning, and the Gregorian day it lands on moves by up to a month between years because twelve lunations fall about eleven days short of a solar year.
Tithi
Ekadashi, Krishna paksha
Lunar month
Bhadrapada (amanta)
Tithi begins
25 Sep, 10:31 PM
Tithi ends
26 Sep, 7:50 PM
Decided at
Sunrise
Sunrise in New Delhi
26 Sep, 6:11 AM
Sunrise in New Delhi falls at 6:11 AM on that day, and that is the instant the tithi has to be running at for the day to carry the observance. It is computed for this city rather than assumed, because it is what decides the date.
The two instants above are the astronomy and are not in dispute. The day is an interpretation of them: this observance is decided at sunrise, so it belongs to the day whose sunrise the tithi carries — not simply to the day the tithi begins.
Indira Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the dark (krishna) half of Ashwin in the purnimanta reckoning used across North India, and of Bhadrapada in the amanta reckoning used in the south and west. It is the same night: the two calendars name the dark fortnight after different months.
Listed here (Smarta, the sunrise rule)
Sunday, 26 September 2027 — The fast belongs to the day whose sunrise carries Ekadashi — the day AstroSage lists and the one this page leads with.
Vaishnava (ISKCON), the arunodaya rule
Sunday, 26 September 2027 — The same day this year. The Vaishnava rule reads the tithi at arunodaya, the 96 minutes before sunrise, rather than at sunrise; the arunodaya of Sunday, 26 September 2027 (26 Sep, 4:35 AM) is already inside Ekadashi, not Dashami.
Every day above is computed for New Delhi from the same tithi instants. ISKCON temples publish their own calendar for each city and also apply the Mahadvadashi rules, which can move a fast to Dwadashi in some years — where your temple's calendar differs, follow it.
Meaning and vrat katha
Indira Ekadashi vrat katha and significance
Indira Ekadashi falls inside Pitru Paksha — the dark fortnight of Ashwin by the purnimanta reckoning, Bhadrapada Krishna by the amanta one — and it is the Ekadashi kept for one's ancestors. Families combine the fast with shraddha: food is offered to the pitrs and to brahmins, and the fast's merit is dedicated to forebears who have died. Vishnu is worshipped as Shaligram.
The katha
Retold in brief from the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, in Krishna's Ekadashi-mahatmya to Yudhishthira.
King Indrasena ruled Mahishmati and was devoted to Vishnu. One day the sage Narada came to his court with a message: on a visit to Yama's realm he had met the king's father, who was still held there because of a lapse in his life — an Ekadashi vow he had broken.
The father had asked Narada to tell his son that there was a way to release him: if Indrasena kept the Ekadashi of the dark fortnight of Ashwin, called Indira, and gave its merit to him, he would be freed.
Narada then explained how to keep it. On Dashami the king should bathe and perform shraddha for his ancestors at midday, eat once, and keep the night clean. On Ekadashi he should fast, perform shraddha again with Shaligram worship, offer the pinda to cows, and stay awake through the night. On Dwadashi he should feed brahmins and his family before breaking his own fast.
Indrasena kept the vrat with his household exactly so. The Purana says flowers fell from the sky as he finished, and that his father rose on Garuda to Vishnu's abode. Indrasena himself ruled long and, at the end of his life, reached the same abode.
How the fast is kept
The fast runs from sunrise on the Ekadashi day to parana on Dwadashi. Many families eat a single plain meal on Dashami, the evening before.
Grains and rice are left out on Ekadashi. Those who cannot keep a complete fast take fruit, milk or a phalahar meal; a waterless fast is kept only by those whose tradition and health allow it.
Vishnu is worshipped with tulsi leaves, a lamp and his names; reading or hearing the day's katha is part of the observance, and many stay awake for a part of the night in kirtan or japa.
Parana is on Dwadashi, after Hari Vasara — the first quarter of Dwadashi — has passed. The window for your city is computed above.
Fasting customs are described here as tradition, not as medical advice. Consult a doctor before fasting, particularly if you are pregnant, diabetic, elderly or on medication.
All 26 · New Delhi
Every Ekadashi and its next date
Twenty-four in an ordinary year, two more in a year with an adhika month. Each has its own page with its katha, parana and Smarta and Vaishnava dates.
Indira Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the ancestors: it falls inside Pitru Paksha and is kept with shraddha and tarpan, its merit dedicated to forebears who have died, with Vishnu worshipped as Shaligram. In New Delhi it falls on Sunday, 26 September 2027: the fast runs from sunrise to parana on Dwadashi, 27 Sep, 6:11 AM to 8:35 AM. It is the Ekadashi of Ashwin Krishna in North India (Bhadrapada Krishna in the amanta calendar).
All Indira Ekadashi 2027 muhurat in New Delhi
Muhurat
Time in New Delhi
What it is for
Parana: the time to break the fast
27 Sep, 6:11 AM to 8:35 AMThe morning of Dwadashi (the first fifth of the day), Hari Vasara having ended overnight.
The window on Dwadashi, the morning after the fast, in which Indira Ekadashi is completed. It opens once Hari Vasara is over and normally closes with the first part of the morning; when Hari Vasara runs late it moves past midday, and it never runs beyond the end of Dwadashi. The time shown is computed for New Delhi.
Hari Vasara ends
27 Sep, 1:06 AMThe end of the first quarter of Dwadashi; the fast is never broken inside it.
Hari Vasara is the first quarter of Dwadashi. The fast is not broken inside it, even when it is already morning, so its end in New Delhi is the earliest moment parana can begin.
Kutup muhurat: the shraddha begins
11:48 AM to 12:36 PMThe 8th of the day's fifteen muhurtas, the shraddha's own muhurta.
The eighth of the day's fifteen muhurtas, close to midday on the Ekadashi in New Delhi. Narada's vidhi puts the Ekadashi shraddha and the sesame tarpan at midday, and Kutup is the muhurta in which they are begun. If your family's Ekadashi shraddha falls on the other day, as the Ekadashi tithi entry explains, take that day's Kutup from its panchang.
Rohina muhurat
12:36 PM to 1:24 PMThe 9th of the day's fifteen muhurtas.
The ninth muhurta, straight after Kutup. Offerings begun in Kutup carry on into it; it is not a time to start the rite afresh.
Aparahna kaal: finish the shraddha
1:24 PM to 3:49 PMAparahna, the fourth fifth of the day, when every shraddha is decided.
The afternoon, the fourth of the day's five parts. The shraddha, with the meal for brahmins or guests and the pinda set aside for the cows, is completed before it ends. It is also the part of the day by which a tithi shraddha is dated, which is why that shraddha can fall a day away from the fast.
Brahma Muhurta
4:35 AM to 5:23 AMThe 14th of the night's fifteen muhurtas, ending one muhurta before sunrise.
The hour before dawn on the Ekadashi day, the traditional time to wake, bathe and take the sankalp of the fast.
Sunrise
6:11 AMThe upper edge of the Sun on the horizon, with refraction.
The fast is counted from sunrise on Ekadashi to parana on Dwadashi, and the morning puja begins after it.
Auspicious choghadiya (day)
Chal7:41 AM to 9:11 AM
Labh9:11 AM to 10:42 AM
Amrit10:42 AM to 12:12 PM
Shubh1:42 PM to 3:13 PM
The day's Amrit, Shubh, Labh and Chal choghadiyas.
The day's Amrit, Shubh, Labh and Chal periods. Families who cannot worship at dawn choose one of them for the main puja.
Pradosh Kaal: the evening lamps
6:13 PM to 8:37 PMFrom sunset for three night muhurtas (a fifth of the night).
The evening after sunset, when lamps are lit before Vishnu and beside the tulsi and the aarti is sung again.
Nishita Kaal: the night vigil
11:48 PM to 12:36 AM (27 Sep)The 8th of the night's fifteen muhurtas, around the middle of the night.
The middle of the night, the heart of the jagran. Those who keep the night awake give this part of it to kirtan and japa.
Rahu Kaal (to avoid)Kept clear of
4:43 PM to 6:13 PMRahu's eighth of the daylight, fixed by the weekday: a puja, a purchase or a journey is not begun in it.
The weekday's Rahu Kaal on the Ekadashi day in New Delhi. Many families avoid beginning the sankalp or the main puja inside it; it does not change the fast itself or the parana window.
Auspicious windows that day
Auspicious windows that day
Window
Time in New Delhi
What it is
Abhijit Muhurat
11:48 AM to 12:36 PM
Auspicious
Amrit Kaal
6:43 AM to 8:12 AM
Most Auspicious
Brahma Muhurat
4:35 AM to 5:23 AM
Auspicious
Windows usually worked around
These are the spans classical muhurta sets aside for beginnings. They are descriptions of a convention, not warnings: the observance is kept on its day regardless, and nothing here needs to be bought, corrected or remedied.
Windows usually worked around
Window
Time in New Delhi
Rahu Kaal
4:43 PM to 6:13 PM
Yamaganda Kaal
12:12 PM to 1:42 PM
Durmuhurta First
4:37 PM to 5:25 PM
Varjyam
12:19 AM to 1:47 AM
Every time above is computed for New Delhi around Sunday, 26 September 2027, from the sunrise, sunset and the positions of the Sun and Moon for this city. The Vedic day runs sunrise to sunrise, so a window whose clock time falls after midnight still belongs to the evening before; a time on another date carries that date.
Puja vidhi · step by step at home
Indira Ekadashi puja vidhi
Every Ekadashi is kept the same way: one sattvic meal on Dashami, the sankalp at dawn, Vishnu puja with tulsi, the katha and aarti, lamps at dusk, the night vigil and parana on Dwadashi. Those steps are in the Ekadashi vrat vidhi. Below are the steps Indira Ekadashi adds or words its own way.
Dashami: tarpan at midday, one meal
As Narada taught King Indrasena, bathe on Dashami and at midday offer water with black sesame (tarpan), or shraddha if it is your family's custom, to your ancestors; eat a single meal and keep the night quiet and clean. Pick the tulsi you will need.
Take the sankalp
Sit before the altar, hold a little water and a flower in your right hand and resolve to keep the vrat: say your name, that you are keeping Indira Ekadashi for Vishnu, and how you will fast, whether without water, on water alone, on fruit or with one phalahar meal. Then let the water fall. The Ekadashi sankalpa verse in the mantra section can be said here.
Worship Vishnu as Shaligram
Bathe the Shaligram, or a metal image of Vishnu, with water, panchamrit and water again (for a picture, sprinkle water with a flower), and offer sandalwood, yellow flowers, tulsi picked the day before, incense and a lamp, chanting Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya.
Shraddha or tarpan on Ekadashi
At midday offer the ancestors water with black sesame and kusha, facing south, with the verse to the ancestors; families who perform full shraddha do it now, with the Shaligram worshipped beside it. The katha gives the pinda to cows: the food set aside for the pitrs is not eaten by the one who fasts.
Katha and aarti
Read or listen to the Indira Ekadashi vrat katha below, and the Vishnu Sahasranama or a chapter of the Gita if you can. Then sing Om Jai Jagdish Hare with a ghee lamp or camphor, and ask pardon for any mistake made in the puja.
Dwadashi: feed others, then break the fast
On Dwadashi bathe, worship Vishnu, and, as the katha asks, feed a brahmin or someone in need and the family first. Then break your own fast inside the parana window with a tulsi leaf and water, offering the fast's merit to your ancestors.
Samagri · what to keep ready
Indira Ekadashi puja samagri list
The puja samagri every Ekadashi uses (an image of Vishnu, tulsi picked on Dashami, a ghee lamp, yellow flowers, panchamrit, Ganga jal and the rest) is in the Ekadashi samagri list. For Indira Ekadashi, add:
A Shaligram, or an image of VishnuThe katha's worship is of Vishnu as Shaligram.
Black sesame and kusha grassFor the tarpan and the shraddha.
A copper lotaFor the sesame water offered to the ancestors, facing south.
The pinda and food for the pitrsMade as the family's shraddha custom makes them, and given to cows, not eaten by the one who fasts.
Mantras · in Devanagari, with meaning
Indira Ekadashi mantras and aarti
The verses every Ekadashi uses, from the dhyana and sankalpa verses to the parana verse, and the Om Jai Jagdish Hare aarti are in the Ekadashi guide's mantras and aarti. Indira Ekadashi's own:
Devatabhyah pitribhyash cha mahayogibhya eva cha Namah svadhayai svahayai nityam eva namo namah
Meaning: Salutation to the gods, to the ancestors and to the great yogis; salutation to Svadha and to Svaha, always, again and again. A verse widely recited at shraddha.
When and how: Three times at the shraddha offering, with water and black sesame, before the fast's merit is dedicated to the pitrs.
Significance
Why Indira Ekadashi is kept
It asks a family to remember its dead by name, and especially anyone who left a vow unfinished; keeping that vow on their behalf is part of the day. The shraddha follows the afternoon, begun in the Kutup muhurat around midday, while the fast follows the sunrise, so the two can fall a day apart; this page gives both windows. Sarva Pitru Amavasya closes the fortnight a few days later, and Navratri begins the day after it.
Its katha, from the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, carries the most detailed vidhi of any: the sage Narada brings King Indrasena news that his father is held in Yama's realm for a broken Ekadashi vow, and teaches him to keep this fast with shraddha on Dashami and Ekadashi and a meal for others on Dwadashi. The Purana says that when he did, his father rose on Garuda to Vishnu's abode.
Upay · traditional practice
Indira Ekadashi upay: traditional remedies
Tarpan with black sesame
At midday on Dashami and Ekadashi, facing south, offer water with black sesame from cupped hands, naming your parents and forebears, with the verse to the ancestors.
Merit for those who have gone
Offer the fast's merit to your ancestors at the parana, as Indrasena offered his to his father; families remember especially anyone who could not keep their own vows.
The pinda for the cows
In the katha the pinda is given to cows. Feed a cow with the food set aside for the pitrs, or give green fodder at a gaushala.
Feed before you eat
Narada's vidhi ends with brahmins and the family fed before the king breaks his fast. Feed a priest, a guest or someone hungry on Dwadashi morning first.
Keep a vow someone left unfinished
The king's father was held for a broken Ekadashi vow. If a parent or elder left a practice unfinished, keeping it on their behalf is in the spirit of this day.
Remember with gratitude
Tell the children the names and stories of their grandparents and great-grandparents today; remembrance is the heart of Pitru Paksha.
The custom, in short
Indira Ekadashi do's and don'ts
Do
Eat one light sattvic meal on Dashami, before sunset.
Take the sankalp in the morning and keep the fast in the form you chose.
Put a tulsi leaf, picked the day before, on every offering.
Chant Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya and read or hear the katha.
Light a lamp before Vishnu and beside the tulsi at dusk.
Keep at least part of the night awake in kirtan or japa.
Give food or water to someone in need, and give daan on Dwadashi before parana.
Break the fast inside the parana window on Dwadashi.
Offer tarpan or shraddha to your ancestors at midday on Dashami and Ekadashi, as the katha describes.
Feed a brahmin or someone in need, and the family, before your own parana.
Don't
Do not eat rice, wheat, dal or any other grain or pulse on Ekadashi.
Do not pluck tulsi leaves on Ekadashi.
Do not eat onion, garlic, meat or eggs, or drink alcohol, from Dashami to Dwadashi.
Do not sleep during the day.
Do not quarrel, lie or speak harshly.
Do not break the fast during Hari Vasara, or let Dwadashi pass without parana.
Do not press the sick, the elderly, pregnant or nursing women or children into a strict fast; anyone with diabetes or another condition, or on regular medicine, should ask a doctor before fasting.
Do not eat the pinda or the food set aside for the ancestors; the katha gives the pinda to cows.
Across India
Indira Ekadashi bhog and food
What may be eaten on any Ekadashi, from fruit and sabudana to samak rice and the parana meal, is in the Ekadashi food list.
Indira Ekadashi across five years
Two years back, this year, and two ahead. Past years are kept rather than dropped so you can check the engine against a calendar you already have.
Indira Ekadashi across five years
Year
Date
Status
2024
Saturday, 28 September 2024
past
2025
Wednesday, 17 September 2025
past
2026This year
Tuesday, 6 October 2026
past
2027
Sunday, 26 September 2027
upcoming
2028
Friday, 15 September 2028
upcoming
Every row is computed for New Delhi from the same ephemeris, not looked up. Sunrise decides which day a tithi names, and sunrise differs across India by more than an hour, so a date computed for Delhi can be a day out elsewhere.
Why calendars disagree about this date
There is no single authority that settles a Hindu festival date, and the divergence is genuine rather than sloppy. Three causes account for almost all of it.
A tithi rarely starts at sunrise. One that is running at the deciding moment on two days — or on none — is claimed by both days under different rules.
Month reckoning. North India runs purnimanta, the south and west amanta. The same dark fortnight carries different month names in the two, so an observance defined as "krishna X of month Y" can land a full lunation apart.
Which moment decides. Most vratas belong to the day whose sunrise carries the tithi, but not all: this one is decided at sunrise. Almanacs that apply the sunrise rule to everything move several festivals by a day.
So this page shows its working. If your pandit or your family almanac gives a different day, the instants above will usually show you exactly why — and that is more useful than a date asserted without one.
In New Delhi, Indira Ekadashi falls on Sunday, 26 September 2027, and Ekadashi tithi runs 10:31 PM (25 Sep) to 7:49 PM. It is the Ekadashi of Pitru Paksha: Ashwin Krishna in North India, Bhadrapada Krishna in the amanta calendar, between mid-September and early October.
Why does another calendar give a different Indira Ekadashi date?
Three honest reasons. The tithi can be running at the deciding moment on two days or on none. North India reckons the month purnimanta and the south and west amanta, which names the same krishna fortnight differently. And almanacs differ on which moment of the day decides an observance. The instants above are the astronomy; the day is an interpretation of them.
Why is Indira Ekadashi observed?
For the ancestors. It falls in Pitru Paksha, and its katha is a son's fast that freed his father, so families keep it to give their forebears peace: they fast, perform shraddha or tarpan, feed others, and dedicate the fast's merit to those who have died.
Where does the Indira Ekadashi vrat katha come from?
It is told in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, in Krishna's Ekadashi-mahatmya to Yudhishthira. The katha is retold in full above.
Is Indira Ekadashi on a different day for Smarta and Vaishnava (ISKCON)?
Not this year — both keep Sunday, 26 September 2027. The Vaishnava rule reads Ekadashi at arunodaya, and Ekadashi already holds that day's arunodaya.
Is Ekadashi Shraddha the same day as Indira Ekadashi?
They belong to the same Ekadashi of Pitru Paksha but follow different rules. The fast is kept on the day whose sunrise carries Ekadashi; the shraddha for forebears who died on an Ekadashi follows the tithi in the afternoon, so calendars sometimes place the two a day apart. This page gives the fast's day for New Delhi; check the shraddha day separately in the Pitru Paksha calendar.
What is the Indira Ekadashi parana time?
Indira's parana is on Dwadashi: in New Delhi, 27 Sep, 6:11 AM to 8:35 AM, after Hari Vasara has ended (27 Sep, 1:06 AM). Feed a brahmin or someone in need and the family before you break your own fast, and offer its merit to your ancestors as you do.
What is the Indira Ekadashi vrat katha?
King Indrasena of Mahishmati, a devotee of Vishnu, received the sage Narada, who had met the king's father in Yama's realm, held there for a broken Ekadashi vow. If Indrasena kept the Indira Ekadashi and gave him its merit, Narada said, he would be freed, and taught him the vidhi: shraddha on Dashami and Ekadashi, the fast and a night awake, and brahmins and family fed on Dwadashi. Indrasena did so, and his father rose to Vishnu's abode. The full katha is above.
How is shraddha done on Indira Ekadashi?
Following Narada's vidhi: on Dashami, a bath, a midday shraddha or tarpan and one meal; on Ekadashi, the fast, Shaligram worship, a second midday shraddha with the pinda given to cows, and a night awake; on Dwadashi, brahmins and family fed before the parana. Those who do not perform full shraddha offer sesame water to the pitrs at midday.
What is the significance of the Ekadashi in Pitru Paksha?
Pitru Paksha is the fortnight given to the ancestors, and Indira is its Ekadashi: the one day in it on which the Ekadashi fast and the rites for the pitrs are kept together. The Purana says the merit of this fast, given to a forebear, can lift them to Vishnu's abode.
Can the fast's merit be given to a parent who has died?
That is the heart of Indira Ekadashi: Indrasena kept it and offered its merit to his father. At parana, with water, a flower and a few sesame seeds, name your parent or forebear and offer the fast for their peace. Tradition holds that what is given with faith reaches them.
Which form of Vishnu is worshipped on Indira Ekadashi?
Vishnu as Shaligram, the sacred black stone of the Gandaki river, worshipped beside the shraddha in the katha's vidhi. A household without a Shaligram worships any image of Vishnu.
What are the rules of the Indira Ekadashi fast?
One meal on Dashami after the midday tarpan; no grain, onion or garlic from then until parana; shraddha or tarpan at midday on Ekadashi, the pinda given to cows and never eaten; a night at least partly awake; and on Dwadashi others fed before you break your fast in the parana window.
What can I eat on Indira Ekadashi?
Phalahar only: fruit, milk, makhana, sabudana, potato and sweet potato with rock salt, and kuttu or singhara where the custom allows. The food cooked for the pitrs on this day is for them, the cows and the guests; the one who fasts does not eat it.
Is Indira Ekadashi always in September?
Mostly, but not always: it falls between mid-September and early October, inside Pitru Paksha, so in some years it comes in the first days of October. The date for New Delhi is Sunday, 26 September 2027.
