The window is the first fifth of the daylight (pratahkala).
Mohini Ekadashi is not a Gregorian date. It is Shukla paksha tithi 11 of Vaishakha 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, Shukla paksha
Lunar month
Vaishakha (amanta)
Tithi begins
15 May, 6:18 PM
Tithi ends
16 May, 5:14 PM
Decided at
Sunrise
Sunrise in New Delhi
16 May, 5:29 AM
Sunrise in New Delhi falls at 5:29 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.
Shukla paksha · Vaishakha
Mohini Ekadashi 2027: Smarta and Vaishnava dates
Listed here (Smarta, the sunrise rule)
Sunday, 16 May 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, 16 May 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, 16 May 2027 (16 May, 3:53 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
Mohini Ekadashi vrat katha and significance
Mohini Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the bright half of Vaishakha. It carries the name of Mohini, the enchantress Vishnu became at the churning of the ocean to keep the nectar from the asuras, and the day is kept for Vishnu with that story in mind. In the Puranic telling, Vasishtha teaches it to Rama, which is why it is also read in many Rama temples.
The katha
Retold in brief from the Kurma Purana, in the Ekadashi-mahatmya, where Vasishtha tells it to Rama and Krishna repeats it to Yudhishthira.
On the banks of the Sarasvati stood the city of Bhadravati, and in it lived a merchant named Dhanapala, known for building wells, rest houses and gardens for travellers. He had five sons, and the youngest, Dhrishtabuddhi, wasted everything he touched on gambling, drink and cruelty.
At last his father and brothers turned him out of the house. With nothing left, he took to stealing, was caught and punished, and wandered into the forest, hungry and alone.
Drawn by the sight of an ashram, he came to the sage Kaundinya, who had just bathed in the Ganga, and a drop of water from the sage's clothes fell on him. Something in him changed. He bowed and asked whether a man like him could still make good. Kaundinya told him of the Ekadashi of the bright half of Vaishakha, called Mohini, and how to keep it.
Dhrishtabuddhi kept the fast exactly as he was told. The Purana says that it cleared the weight of his past, and that at the end of his life he rode to Vishnu's abode on Garuda. Vasishtha tells Rama that no fast in the world equals this one, and that reading or hearing the story brings its own merit.
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.
Mohini Ekadashi, the bright-half Ekadashi of Vaishakha, is kept for Vishnu and carries the name of his enchanting Mohini form; its katha is the one the sage Vasishtha taught Rama. In New Delhi it falls on Sunday, 16 May 2027: the fast runs from sunrise to parana on Dwadashi, 17 May, 5:29 AM to 8:12 AM. It comes in the summer heat, between late April and late May.
All Mohini Ekadashi 2027 muhurat in New Delhi
Muhurat
Time in New Delhi
What it is for
Parana: the time to break the fast
17 May, 5:29 AM to 8:12 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 Mohini 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
11:02 PMThe 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.
Brahma Muhurta
4:06 AM to 4:48 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
5:29 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)
Chal7:11 AM to 8:53 AM
Labh8:53 AM to 10:35 AM
Amrit10:35 AM to 12:17 PM
Shubh1:59 PM to 3:41 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
7:05 PM to 9:10 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
11:56 PM to 12:38 AM (17 May)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
5:23 PM to 7:05 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
11:50 AM to 12:44 PM
Auspicious
Brahma Muhurat
4:06 AM to 4:48 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
5:23 PM to 7:05 PM
Yamaganda Kaal
12:17 PM to 1:59 PM
Durmuhurta First
5:16 PM to 6:11 PM
Varjyam
7:57 PM to 9:33 PM
Every time above is computed for New Delhi around Sunday, 16 May 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
Mohini 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 Mohini Ekadashi adds or words its own way.
Wake early and bathe with Ganga jal
Rise early, in Brahma Muhurta if you can, and bathe with a few drops of Ganga jal in the water: in the katha, a single drop from the sage Kaundinya's clothes, fresh from the Ganga, began Dhrishtabuddhi's change. Put on clean clothes; yellow is traditional for Vishnu.
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 Mohini 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.
Katha and aarti
Read or listen to the Mohini 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.
Remember Rama, to whom it was taught
Vasishtha taught this vrat to Rama, so many homes and Rama temples worship Rama and Sita beside Vishnu today. Recite the Rama Rameti verse three times after the katha.
Samagri · what to keep ready
Mohini 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 Mohini Ekadashi, add:
An image of Rama and Sita, if you keep oneWorshipped beside Vishnu in many homes, since Vasishtha taught this vrat to Rama.
Mantras · in Devanagari, with meaning
Mohini 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. Mohini Ekadashi's own:
Meaning: Saying Rama, Rama, Rama, I delight in Rama, the delight of the mind. Rama's name equals the thousand names, O lovely-faced one. Shiva's words to Parvati at the close of the Vishnu Sahasranama.
When and how: Three times; by tradition it stands in for the whole Vishnu Sahasranama when time is short.
Significance
Why Mohini Ekadashi is kept
Its practice follows the summer. The katha's merchant father was known for building wells, rest houses and gardens for travellers, and many honour the day the same way, with water, shade and a place to rest for people on the road. It falls about a week after Akshaya Tritiya, with Narasimha Jayanti and Buddha Purnima a few days later. Many also keep it to break the hold of one habit, naming that habit in the sankalp.
The katha is a story of change: Dhrishtabuddhi, a merchant's son who had thrown everything away, was turned round by a drop of water from a sage's clothes and by this fast, and the Purana says he reached Vishnu's abode. Vasishtha tells Rama that no fast in the world equals it. It falls between late April and late May.
Upay · traditional practice
Mohini Ekadashi upay: traditional remedies
A drop of Ganga jal
Bathe with a few drops of Ganga jal, and sprinkle a little in the house; in the katha one drop from the sage's clothes was where a ruined life began to turn.
A fresh start, named
Dhrishtabuddhi asked whether a man like him could still make good. If there is a habit you want to leave behind, name it in the sankalp and offer the fast to Vishnu for the strength to leave it.
Wells, shade and water
The katha's father Dhanapala was known for wells, rest houses and gardens for travellers. In the Vaishakha heat, give water, shade or a meal to those who travel or work outdoors.
Rama's name
Recite the Rama Rameti verse three times after the katha, since Vasishtha taught this vrat to Rama, and visit a Rama temple if one is near.
Hear the katha
Vasishtha tells Rama that reading or hearing this katha brings its own merit. Read it aloud to the household, or listen to it at a temple.
Keep away from what ruined him
Gambling, drink and cruelty undid Dhrishtabuddhi. Keep the day, and if you can the season, clear of all three.
The custom, in short
Mohini 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.
Bathe with a few drops of Ganga jal; the katha's change began with a single drop.
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 gamble, even in play; the katha's Dhrishtabuddhi lost everything to it.
Across India
Mohini 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.
Mohini 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.
Mohini Ekadashi across five years
Year
Date
Status
2024
Sunday, 19 May 2024
past
2025
Thursday, 8 May 2025
past
2026This year
Monday, 27 April 2026
past
2027
Sunday, 16 May 2027
upcoming
2028
Friday, 5 May 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, Mohini Ekadashi falls on Sunday, 16 May 2027, and Ekadashi tithi runs 6:18 PM (15 May) to 5:13 PM. It is the Ekadashi of the bright half of Vaishakha, named alike in every calendar, about a week after Akshaya Tritiya.
Why does another calendar give a different Mohini 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 Mohini Ekadashi observed?
Mohini Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the bright half of Vaishakha. It carries the name of Mohini, the enchantress Vishnu became at the churning of the ocean to keep the nectar from the asuras, and the day is kept for Vishnu with that story in mind. In the Puranic telling, Vasishtha teaches it to Rama, which is why it is also read in many Rama temples.
Where does the Mohini Ekadashi vrat katha come from?
It is told in the Kurma Purana, in the Ekadashi-mahatmya, where Vasishtha tells it to Rama and Krishna repeats it to Yudhishthira. The katha is retold in full above.
Is Mohini Ekadashi on a different day for Smarta and Vaishnava (ISKCON)?
Not this year — both keep Sunday, 16 May 2027. The Vaishnava rule reads Ekadashi at arunodaya, and Ekadashi already holds that day's arunodaya.
Is Mohini Ekadashi in April or May?
Either: it falls between the last week of April and the last week of May. The date for New Delhi is Sunday, 16 May 2027, and the table of years on this page lists the others.
When is the Mohini Ekadashi parana?
On Dwadashi, the next morning: in New Delhi, 17 May, 5:29 AM to 8:12 AM, after Hari Vasara ends (11:02 PM). In the heat, break the fast gently, with water, a tulsi leaf and fruit, before the first meal.
What is the Mohini Ekadashi vrat katha?
Dhrishtabuddhi, youngest son of the generous merchant Dhanapala of Bhadravati, wasted everything on gambling, drink and cruelty, was turned out, stole and was punished. Wandering in the forest he reached the sage Kaundinya, fresh from the Ganga, and a drop of water from the sage's clothes fell on him; something changed. Kaundinya taught him the Mohini Ekadashi of Vaishakha, and the fast cleared the weight of his past. The full katha is above.
What is Mohini Ekadashi, and why is it called Mohini?
It is the bright-half Ekadashi of Vaishakha, kept for Vishnu. It carries the name of Mohini, the enchanting form Vishnu took at the churning of the ocean, when the asuras seized the pot of nectar and Mohini won it back for the gods. The day is kept with that story in mind; its own katha is Dhrishtabuddhi's.
What is the importance of Mohini Ekadashi?
In the Kurma Purana, Vasishtha tells Rama that no fast in the world equals it, and its katha shows a ruined life turned round by it. So it is kept as the Ekadashi of a fresh start, for release from the weight of past wrongs, and is read in Rama temples because Rama himself was taught it.
Which mantra is chanted on Mohini Ekadashi?
The main japa is Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, 108 times on a tulsi mala. Since Vasishtha taught the vrat to Rama, many add the Rama Rameti verse, said three times, which tradition counts as the whole Vishnu Sahasranama. Both are in the mantra section with their meaning.
Why is Mohini Ekadashi linked to Rama?
Because of who tells the katha. In the Kurma Purana the sage Vasishtha, Rama's guru, teaches this Ekadashi to Rama, and Krishna later repeats it to Yudhishthira. Rama temples therefore read the Mohini katha, and many homes worship Rama and Sita beside Vishnu on the day.
What should be done on Mohini Ekadashi?
Bathe with a little Ganga jal, take the sankalp, worship Vishnu with tulsi, yellow flowers and a ghee lamp, read the Dhrishtabuddhi katha and the Rama Rameti verse, keep the fast and part of the night in kirtan, and give water or food to someone in the heat. Break the fast in the parana window on Dwadashi.
What can I eat in the Mohini Ekadashi fast?
This is the hottest stretch of the year in much of India, so keep phalahar light and watery: watermelon, muskmelon, cucumber, mango, curd, buttermilk with rock salt and coconut water, with sabudana or makhana if you need more. No grain, dal, onion or garlic until the parana.
What are the upay of Mohini Ekadashi?
The traditional ones follow the katha: a bath with Ganga jal, the fast offered for a fresh start, water and shade for travellers in the heat, Rama's name, hearing the katha, and keeping away from gambling and drink. They are acts of devotion and discipline, not guarantees.
What are the benefits of the Mohini Ekadashi fast?
The Purana says it cleared the weight of Dhrishtabuddhi's past and took him to Vishnu's abode, and that hearing the katha brings merit; those are the tradition's words, kept with faith. Its plainest gift is the one the katha shows: a day to stop, turn round and begin again.
