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Shukla paksha · Adhika · amanta reckoning

When is Padmini Ekadashi 2029?

Padmini Ekadashi 2029

In 882 days

Mon, 26 Mar

Padmini Ekadashi 2029 is on Monday, 26 March. Parana, breaking the fast, is on 27 March, 6:16 AM to 8:44 AM in New Delhi.

Parana (breaking the fast), 27 Mar 2029

6:16 AM – 8:44 AM

New Delhi

Also called Kamala Ekadashi. Those are the same observance and the same date, so they share this page rather than competing with it from a second URL.

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Computed for New Delhi

The date in New Delhi

Monday, 26 March 2029

Padmini Ekadashi 2029 timings in New Delhi
TimingNew DelhiWhat it is
Parana (breaking the fast), 27 Mar 20296:16 AM to 8:44 AMThe window is the first fifth of the daylight (pratahkala).

Padmini Ekadashi is not a Gregorian date. It is Shukla paksha tithi 11 of Adhika 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
Adhika Chaitra (amanta)
Tithi begins
25 Mar, 11:37 PM
Tithi ends
26 Mar, 9:37 PM
Decided at
Sunrise
Sunrise in New Delhi
26 Mar, 6:17 AM

Sunrise in New Delhi falls at 6:17 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 · Adhika Chaitra

Padmini Ekadashi 2029: Smarta and Vaishnava dates

Padmini Ekadashi comes only in a year that has an adhika (extra) month — Purushottam maas — roughly one year in three. The table below lists those years.

Listed here (Smarta, the sunrise rule)
Monday, 26 March 2029 — 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
Monday, 26 March 2029 — 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 Monday, 26 March 2029 (26 Mar, 4:41 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

Padmini Ekadashi vrat katha and significance

Also known as Kamala Ekadashi.

Padmini Ekadashi is the Shukla Ekadashi of an adhika month — the extra lunar month, Purushottam maas, that keeps the lunar calendar in step with the seasons and is dedicated to Vishnu as Purushottama. Because an adhika month comes roughly one year in three, so does this Ekadashi. It is also called Kamala Ekadashi, and is kept with particular care since its chance comes so seldom.

The katha

Retold in brief from the Skanda Purana, in the Ekadashi-mahatmya told by Krishna to Yudhishthira, where Pulastya first tells it to Narada.

In the Treta Yuga, King Kritavirya of Mahishmati had a thousand queens and not one son. Leaving the kingdom to his ministers, he went with his queen Padmini, daughter of King Harishchandra, to the Gandhamadana mountain and practised severe austerities there for ten thousand years, without result.

Padmini, seeing her husband wasted by penance, went to the wise Anasuya, wife of the sage Atri, and asked her what they had failed to do. Anasuya told her of a vrat that comes only once in three years: the Shukla Ekadashi of the adhika month, the month dear to Vishnu as Purushottama.

Padmini kept it exactly as Anasuya described — a fast with the night awake in worship, and the merit offered to Vishnu. Vishnu appeared, pleased, and offered her a boon; she asked that it be given to her husband. The king asked for a son who could not be defeated by gods, men or demons, and Vishnu granted it.

The son born to them was Kartavirya Arjuna, the thousand-armed king. Krishna tells Yudhishthira that this Ekadashi, rare as its month, is named after the queen who kept it: Padmini.

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.

The next Ekadashi and its parana

All Padmini Ekadashi 2029 muhurat · New Delhi

Padmini Ekadashi muhurat

Padmini Ekadashi, also called Kamala Ekadashi, is the bright-half Ekadashi of the adhika month, Purushottam maas, so it comes only in a year that has one: roughly one year in three. In New Delhi it falls on Monday, 26 March 2029, and the fast runs from sunrise to parana on Dwadashi, 27 Mar, 6:16 AM to 8:44 AM. Its katha is Queen Padmini's, who kept this rare fast with the night awake and won from Vishnu the son her husband's long penance had not.

All Padmini Ekadashi 2029 muhurat in New Delhi
MuhuratTime in New DelhiWhat it is for
Parana: the time to break the fast27 Mar, 6:16 AM to 8:44 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 Padmini 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 ends27 Mar, 2:56 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.

Brahma Muhurta4:44 AM to 5:31 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.

Sunrise6:17 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)
  • Amrit 6:17 AM to 7:50 AM
  • Shubh 9:22 AM to 10:54 AM
  • Chal 1:59 PM to 3:31 PM
  • Labh 3:31 PM to 5:03 PM
  • Amrit 5:03 PM to 6:36 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 lamps6:36 PM to 8:56 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: Padmini's vigil27 Mar, 12:03 AM to 12:49 AMThe 8th of the night's fifteen muhurtas, around the middle of the night.

The middle of the night, the heart of the jagran. The katha's queen kept this Ekadashi awake through the night in worship, so those who cannot keep the whole night give at least this part of it to kirtan and japa.

Rahu Kaal (to avoid)Kept clear of7:50 AM to 9:22 AMRahu'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
WindowTime in New DelhiWhat it is
Abhijit Muhurat12:02 PM to 12:51 PMAuspicious
Amrit Kaal6:04 AM to 7:34 AMMost Auspicious
Brahma Muhurat4:44 AM to 5:31 AMAuspicious

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
WindowTime in New Delhi
Rahu Kaal7:50 AM to 9:22 AM
Yamaganda Kaal10:54 AM to 12:27 PM
Durmuhurta First12:51 PM to 1:40 PM
Durmuhurta Second3:19 PM to 4:08 PM
Varjyam9:07 PM to 10:37 PM

Every time above is computed for New Delhi around Monday, 26 March 2029, 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

Padmini Ekadashi puja vidhi

  1. The day before: Dashami

    Eat a single simple meal on Dashami, before sunset, without onion, garlic or rice, and keep the evening light and quiet. Clean the puja corner and pick the tulsi leaves you will need, since tulsi is not plucked on Ekadashi itself.

  2. Wake early and bathe

    Rise early on Ekadashi, in Brahma Muhurta if you can, bathe (a few drops of Ganga jal in the water if you have it) and put on clean clothes; yellow is the colour traditionally worn for Vishnu.

  3. 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 Padmini 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.

  4. Set up the altar

    Spread a yellow cloth on a clean chowki and place an image of Vishnu or Krishna on it (a Shaligram or Laddu Gopal if the house keeps one), with a ghee lamp and a small kalash or lota of water. Remember Ganesh first, with a flower and Om Gam Ganapataye Namah, as every puja begins.

  5. Worship Vishnu

    Bathe a metal idol or the Shaligram with water, then panchamrit, then water again (for a picture, sprinkle water with a flower). Offer sandalwood, yellow flowers, a yellow cloth or mauli, incense, the lamp and tulsi leaves picked the day before, chanting Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya. Many households keep rice out of the Ekadashi puja altogether and offer a flower or a few sesame seeds where akshat would go.

  6. Offer bhog

    Offer what you will eat yourself: fruit, a sweet made without grain, makhana, dry fruit or panchamrit, with a tulsi leaf on each offering. Nothing cooked from grain or pulses is offered or eaten on Ekadashi.

  7. Katha and aarti

    Read or listen to the Padmini 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.

  8. Read Purushottama Yoga

    After the katha, read the Gita's fifteenth chapter, Purushottama Yoga, or at least its eighteenth verse; the adhika month carries the name Purushottama.

  9. Through the day

    Keep the fast as you resolved it, keep Vishnu's name in mind and avoid sleeping in the day, anger, gossip and harsh words. Give water, fruit or food to someone who needs it; charity is part of every Ekadashi.

  10. Lamps at dusk

    At sunset light a ghee lamp before Vishnu and another beside the tulsi plant, without plucking its leaves, and sing the aarti again.

  11. The night vigil, as Padmini kept it

    Padmini kept this fast with the night awake in worship, so the jagran is the heart of the day. Stay up as long as you can in kirtan, japa or reading, and give at least the middle of the night to it; those who cannot keep the whole night keep that part.

  12. Dwadashi: give, then break the fast

    Next morning bathe, worship Vishnu briefly and give food, grain or a gift to a brahmin or someone in need. Then break the fast inside the parana window: a tulsi leaf with water, or a fruit, first, saying the parana verse, and after it a simple sattvic meal.

  13. Offer the fast to Vishnu

    As Padmini offered the merit of her fast, close the parana by giving the fast to Vishnu with Shri Krishnarpanam astu, or the same in your own words.

Samagri · what to keep ready

Padmini Ekadashi puja samagri list

  • An image of Vishnu or Krishna A framed picture is enough; a metal idol, a Shaligram or Laddu Gopal is bathed in the puja.
  • A chowki and a yellow cloth Yellow is Vishnu's colour; a clean red cloth also does.
  • Tulsi leaves Picked on Dashami, because tulsi is not plucked on Ekadashi; one goes on every offering.
  • A ghee lamp and cotton wicks One for the altar and one for the tulsi at dusk; sesame oil is the usual alternative.
  • Yellow flowers and a garland Marigold, champa or any fresh yellow flowers; a lotus if you can find one.
  • Chandan (sandalwood paste) For the deity's tilak; haldi paste is the alternative.
  • Roli and haldi For the tilak and for marking the kalash.
  • Panchamrit Milk, curd, ghee, honey and sugar, for the bath of the idol and as prasad.
  • Ganga jal A few drops in the bath water and to purify the altar; clean water if you have none.
  • A kalash or lota of water For the bath, achaman and the sankalp.
  • Incense and dhoop Whatever you use every day.
  • Camphor, an aarti plate and a bell For the aarti; a conch if the house has one.
  • Mauli (kalava) Offered as the deity's cloth or tied on the wrist.
  • A yellow cloth for the deity Optional; mauli takes its place.
  • Fruits of the season Banana, apple, guava, pomegranate or whatever is fresh, offered and then eaten as phalahar.
  • Grain-free sweets Makhana kheer, mishri, peda or dry fruit; nothing made with flour or rice.
  • A few sesame seeds Offered where akshat would go by the many households that keep rice out of the Ekadashi puja.
  • A tulsi mala For 108 repetitions of the mantra.
  • The vrat katha, Vishnu Sahasranama or Gita A book or a phone; reading the katha is part of the vrat.
  • Daan for Dwadashi Grain, fruit, clothes or dakshina, given before parana.
  • A lotus, if you can find one Both of this Ekadashi's names, Padmini and Kamala, come from the lotus.
  • The Purushottam Maas Mahatmya, if you read it Many read it through the adhika month; the Gita's fifteenth chapter is the shorter choice.

Mantras · in Devanagari, with meaning

Padmini Ekadashi mantras and aarti

Shantakaram: the Vishnu dhyana verse

शान्ताकारं भुजगशयनं पद्मनाभं सुरेशं विश्वाधारं गगनसदृशं मेघवर्णं शुभाङ्गम् ।
लक्ष्मीकान्तं कमलनयनं योगिभिर्ध्यानगम्यं वन्दे विष्णुं भवभयहरं सर्वलोकैकनाथम् ॥

Shantakaram bhujagashayanam padmanabham suresham vishvadharam gaganasadrisham meghavarnam shubhangam
Lakshmikantam kamalanayanam yogibhir dhyanagamyam vande Vishnum bhavabhayaharam sarvalokaikanatham

Meaning: I bow to Vishnu: peaceful in form, resting on the serpent, the lotus at his navel, lord of the gods, support of the universe, vast as the sky, dark as a rain cloud, of auspicious form, beloved of Lakshmi, lotus-eyed, reached by yogis in meditation, who removes the fear of worldly existence, the one lord of all the worlds.

When and how: Once, with folded hands, before the worship begins, picturing Vishnu as the verse describes him.

The Ekadashi sankalpa verse

एकादश्यां निराहारः स्थित्वाहमपरेऽहनि ।
भोक्ष्यामि पुण्डरीकाक्ष शरणं मे भवाच्युत ॥

Ekadashyam niraharah sthitvaham apare'hani
Bhokshyami pundarikaksha sharanam me bhavachyuta

Meaning: O lotus-eyed Lord, I shall stay without food on Ekadashi and eat on the day after. O Achyuta, be my refuge.

When and how: Once in the morning, with water in the right hand, while taking the sankalp of the fast.

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya (the twelve-syllable mantra)

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya

Meaning: Om, salutation to the Lord Vasudeva, Vishnu as the one who dwells in all beings. It is the mantra Narada taught the boy Dhruva in the Bhagavata Purana.

When and how: The main japa of Ekadashi: 108 times on a tulsi mala during the puja, and as often as you like through the day and the night vigil.

Bhagavad Gita, chapter 15, verse 18

यस्मात्क्षरमतीतोऽहमक्षरादपि चोत्तमः ।
अतोऽस्मि लोके वेदे च प्रथितः पुरुषोत्तमः ॥

Yasmat ksharam atito'ham aksharad api chottamah
Ato'smi loke vede cha prathitah Purushottamah

Meaning: Because I am beyond the perishable and higher even than the imperishable, I am known in the world and in the Veda as Purushottama, the supreme person. By tradition the adhika month takes its name, Purushottam maas, from him.

When and how: Read after the puja; many read the whole fifteenth chapter, Purushottama Yoga, through the adhika month.

The parana verse

अज्ञानतिमिरान्धस्य व्रतेनानेन केशव ।
प्रसीद सुमुखो नाथ ज्ञानदृष्टिप्रदो भव ॥

Ajnana-timirandhasya vratenanena Keshava
Prasida sumukho natha jnana-drishti-prado bhava

Meaning: O Keshava, by this vow be pleased with one who is blinded by the darkness of ignorance. Be gracious, Lord, and grant the sight of knowledge.

When and how: Once on Dwadashi, inside the parana window, before the first sip of water or bite of fruit.

Aarti Vishnu Aarti: Om Jai Jagdish Hare the full text

ॐ जय जगदीश हरे, स्वामी जय जगदीश हरे।
भक्त जनों के संकट, दास जनों के संकट, क्षण में दूर करे॥
ॐ जय जगदीश हरे॥

जो ध्यावे फल पावे, दुःख बिनसे मन का, स्वामी दुःख बिनसे मन का।
सुख सम्पति घर आवे, सुख सम्पति घर आवे, कष्ट मिटे तन का॥
ॐ जय जगदीश हरे॥

मात पिता तुम मेरे, शरण गहूं किसकी, स्वामी शरण गहूं मैं किसकी।
तुम बिन और न दूजा, तुम बिन और न दूजा, आस करूं मैं जिसकी॥
ॐ जय जगदीश हरे॥

तुम पूरण परमात्मा, तुम अन्तर्यामी, स्वामी तुम अन्तर्यामी।
पारब्रह्म परमेश्वर, पारब्रह्म परमेश्वर, तुम सब के स्वामी॥
ॐ जय जगदीश हरे॥

तुम करुणा के सागर, तुम पालनकर्ता, स्वामी तुम पालनकर्ता।
मैं मूरख फलकामी, मैं सेवक तुम स्वामी, कृपा करो भर्ता॥
ॐ जय जगदीश हरे॥

तुम हो एक अगोचर, सबके प्राणपति, स्वामी सबके प्राणपति।
किस विधि मिलूं दयामय, किस विधि मिलूं दयामय, तुमको मैं कुमति॥
ॐ जय जगदीश हरे॥

दीन-बन्धु दुःख-हर्ता, ठाकुर तुम मेरे, स्वामी रक्षक तुम मेरे।
अपने हाथ उठाओ, अपने शरण लगाओ, द्वार पड़ा तेरे॥
ॐ जय जगदीश हरे॥

विषय-विकार मिटाओ, पाप हरो देवा, स्वामी पाप हरो देवा।
श्रद्धा भक्ति बढ़ाओ, श्रद्धा भक्ति बढ़ाओ, सन्तन की सेवा॥

ॐ जय जगदीश हरे, स्वामी जय जगदीश हरे।
भक्त जनों के संकट, दास जनों के संकट, क्षण में दूर करे॥

Om jai Jagdish hare, swami jai Jagdish hare.
Bhakt janon ke sankat, das janon ke sankat, kshan mein door kare.
Om jai Jagdish hare.

Jo dhyave phal pave, dukh binse man ka, swami dukh binse man ka.
Sukh sampati ghar aave, sukh sampati ghar aave, kasht mite tan ka.
Om jai Jagdish hare.

Maat pita tum mere, sharan gahoon kiski, swami sharan gahoon main kiski.
Tum bin aur na dooja, tum bin aur na dooja, aas karoon main jiski.
Om jai Jagdish hare.

Tum pooran Parmatma, tum antaryami, swami tum antaryami.
Parabrahm Parmeshwar, Parabrahm Parmeshwar, tum sab ke swami.
Om jai Jagdish hare.

Tum karuna ke sagar, tum palankarta, swami tum palankarta.
Main moorakh phalkami, main sevak tum swami, kripa karo bharta.
Om jai Jagdish hare.

Tum ho ek agochar, sabke pranpati, swami sabke pranpati.
Kis vidhi miloon dayamay, kis vidhi miloon dayamay, tumko main kumati.
Om jai Jagdish hare.

Deen-bandhu dukh-harta, thakur tum mere, swami rakshak tum mere.
Apne haath uthao, apne sharan lagao, dwar pada tere.
Om jai Jagdish hare.

Vishay-vikar mitao, paap haro deva, swami paap haro deva.
Shraddha bhakti badhao, shraddha bhakti badhao, santan ki seva.

Om jai Jagdish hare, swami jai Jagdish hare.
Bhakt janon ke sankat, das janon ke sankat, kshan mein door kare.

Text as it is commonly sung. The Gita Press Aarti Sangrah prints 'prabhu' for 'swami', 'chhin mein' for 'kshan mein' and 'khal kami' for 'phalkami'; it does not repeat the half-lines, has no 'das janon ke sankat', 'main sevak tum swami' or 'apne sharan lagao', and reads 'tum thakur mere' for 'thakur tum mere, swami rakshak tum mere'. Printed text

Significance

Why Padmini Ekadashi is kept

Because the doubled month changes, this fast can come in spring, in the summer heat, in the monsoon or early in autumn, and most people meet it only a handful of times in a lifetime. What its katha asks for is the night, kept awake in worship, and a boon asked for someone else; so families keep the jagran, read the Gita's fifteenth chapter and close the parana with Shri Krishnarpanam astu.

Its katha, from the Skanda Purana (Krishna tells it to Yudhishthira, as the sage Pulastya first told it to Narada), is the story of Queen Padmini, Harishchandra's daughter, who learned from Anasuya of a vrat that comes only with the doubled month and kept it; Vishnu's boon gave King Kritavirya his son, Kartavirya Arjuna, the thousand-armed king.

Upay · traditional practice

Padmini Ekadashi upay: traditional remedies

Keep the night as Padmini did

The katha's queen kept this Ekadashi awake through the night in worship. Even if you cannot keep it all, give the middle of the night, Nishita Kaal, to kirtan, japa or reading.

Read Purushottama Yoga

The adhika month is named for Vishnu as Purushottama, the subject of the Gita's fifteenth chapter. Read that short chapter on the Ekadashi, or every day of the month.

Offer the fast to Vishnu

Padmini offered the merit of her fast to Vishnu. Close the puja and the parana with Shri Krishnarpanam astu, giving the fast and whatever good it holds to him.

Ask for someone else

Offered a boon, Padmini asked that it go to her husband. Pray on this day for the people you love; because of its katha, some couples who long for a child keep this fast, as a prayer and not as a promise.

Daan of the adhika month

The whole adhika month is kept for japa, reading and giving. Give food, a lamp or clothes on Dwadashi; in parts of North India, Rajasthan above all, malpuas, often thirty-three of them, are a customary gift of this month.

A lotus for Kamala

Offer Vishnu a lotus if you can find one; it is the flower both of this Ekadashi's names recall.

The custom, in short

Padmini 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.
  • Keep the night vigil, or at least its middle hours, as the katha's queen did.
  • Give the adhika month around this Ekadashi to japa, reading the Gita or the Purushottam Maas Mahatmya, and daan.

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.
  • By custom, do not fix weddings, griha pravesh, mundan or other new beginnings in the adhika month.
  • Do not treat it as a lesser Ekadashi because it falls in an extra month; tradition keeps it with particular care because it comes so seldom.

Across India

Padmini Ekadashi bhog and food

  • Fruit and milk The simplest phalahar: seasonal fruit, milk, curd or buttermilk through the day.
  • Sabudana khichdi Sago with potato and rock salt, often with peanuts; a staple fasting meal in many homes.
  • Kuttu or singhara puri Buckwheat or water-chestnut flour with potato sabzi, in families whose custom allows these flours.
  • Samak, the vrat rice Barnyard millet cooked like rice in North India; some traditions count millets as grain and leave it out.
  • Potato, sweet potato and arbi Boiled, or lightly fried in ghee with rock salt, cumin and green chilli.
  • Makhana Roasted, or as kheer, for the bhog and the fast.
  • Sendha namak (rock salt) Used instead of common salt by most who fast; some keep the day without salt altogether.
  • The parana meal On Dwadashi, a tulsi leaf with water or a fruit first, then a simple home-cooked meal; grain returns with the parana.

Padmini 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.

Padmini Ekadashi across five years
YearDateStatus
2020Sunday, 27 September 2020past
2023Saturday, 29 July 2023past
2026This yearWednesday, 27 May 2026past
2029Monday, 26 March 2029upcoming
2031Thursday, 28 August 2031upcoming
2034Tuesday, 27 June 2034upcoming

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

Common questions

When is Padmini Ekadashi?

In New Delhi, Padmini Ekadashi falls on Monday, 26 March 2029, with Ekadashi tithi running 11:37 PM (25 Mar) to 9:36 PM. As the bright-half Ekadashi of the adhika month, it moves with whichever month is doubled that year, from spring to early autumn.

Why does another calendar give a different Padmini 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 Padmini Ekadashi observed?

Padmini Ekadashi is the Shukla Ekadashi of an adhika month — the extra lunar month, Purushottam maas, that keeps the lunar calendar in step with the seasons and is dedicated to Vishnu as Purushottama. Because an adhika month comes roughly one year in three, so does this Ekadashi. It is also called Kamala Ekadashi, and is kept with particular care since its chance comes so seldom.

Where does the Padmini Ekadashi vrat katha come from?

It is told in the Skanda Purana, in the Ekadashi-mahatmya told by Krishna to Yudhishthira, where Pulastya first tells it to Narada. The katha is retold in full above.

Is Padmini Ekadashi on a different day for Smarta and Vaishnava (ISKCON)?

Not this year — both keep Monday, 26 March 2029. The Vaishnava rule reads Ekadashi at arunodaya, and Ekadashi already holds that day's arunodaya.

How often does Padmini Ekadashi come?

Only in a year with an adhika month, which the lunar calendar adds every two or three years to keep pace with the solar year; a year without one has neither Padmini nor Parama. The years it falls in, past and coming, are in the table on this page.

What is the Padmini Ekadashi parana time?

The fast is broken on Dwadashi, 27 Mar, 6:16 AM to 8:44 AM in New Delhi, after Hari Vasara ends (27 Mar, 2:56 AM). If you kept the night vigil, bathe and do a short puja before the window opens rather than sleeping through it.

What is the Padmini Ekadashi vrat katha?

King Kritavirya of Mahishmati had a thousand queens and no son, and ten thousand years of penance on Gandhamadana brought none. His queen Padmini, Harishchandra's daughter, asked Anasuya, wife of the sage Atri, what they had missed, and learned of the bright-half Ekadashi of the adhika month. She kept it with the night awake and offered its merit to Vishnu, who granted the king a son no god, man or demon could defeat: Kartavirya Arjuna. The full katha is above.

Why is it called Padmini Ekadashi?

It is named after the queen who kept it: Padmini, wife of King Kritavirya. Krishna tells Yudhishthira that this Ekadashi, rare as its month, carries her name. The name itself comes from padma, the lotus.

What is the other name of Padmini Ekadashi?

Kamala Ekadashi, another name of the lotus, though some calendars use Kamala for both Ekadashis of the adhika month, Parama included. Panchangs also list it plainly by its month, as the Shukla Ekadashi of the adhika month, often naming the month that is doubled that year, such as Adhik Jyeshtha.

What is adhik maas, or Purushottam maas?

Twelve lunar months fall about eleven days short of the solar year, so every two or three years a lunar month passes in which the Sun enters no new sign. That month is counted as an extra, adhika, month. Tradition says no deity would accept it until Vishnu took it as his own and gave it his name, Purushottama; it is kept for japa, reading and daan, not for new beginnings.

What is the importance of Padmini Ekadashi?

It is the Ekadashi of the month given to Vishnu as Purushottama, and comes only when that month does, so tradition keeps it with particular care. Its katha ties it to the night vigil, to offering the fast's merit to Vishnu and to praying for others, as Padmini asked her boon for her husband.

What are the fasting rules for Padmini Ekadashi?

The usual Ekadashi rules: one sattvic meal on Dashami, then no grain, pulses, onion or garlic from sunrise on Ekadashi, with the fast kept as your health allows. What its katha adds is the night: stay awake in kirtan or japa for as much of it as you can, then bathe, give daan and break the fast inside the parana window on Dwadashi.

How are Padmini and Parama Ekadashi related?

They are the two Ekadashis of the same adhika month: Padmini in its bright half, Parama in its dark half about a fortnight later. A year that has one has the other, and a year without an adhika month has neither.

Can weddings or a griha pravesh be held in the adhika month?

By custom, no: weddings, griha pravesh, mundan and similar first-time ceremonies are not fixed in the adhika month, which is kept for worship, japa, reading and daan instead. Daily puja and vrats such as this Ekadashi go on as usual.

Which aarti is sung on Padmini Ekadashi?

Om Jai Jagdish Hare, given in full above, after the morning puja and with the evening lamps; it can be sung again during the night vigil. Some families add the Ekadashi Mata aarti from their vrat book.

Which mantra is chanted on Padmini Ekadashi?

Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, 108 times on a tulsi mala, and the Gita's verse on Purushottama (chapter fifteen, verse eighteen), since the adhika month carries that name. Both, with the sankalpa and parana verses, are in the mantra section.