Ekadashi Parana Time for Your City

Ekadashi is the eleventh tithi, the eleventh lunar day, of each half of the lunar month, and it falls twice a month. Many families fast on it, and the fast is only complete when it is broken at the right time the next morning. That act is called parana, and its time is worked out separately from the Ekadashi date itself. This calculator gives the next Ekadashi for your city and the window in which to break the fast, in your own local time.

How the parana window is worked out

The tool uses the same Ekadashi rule as the festival pages on this site, which reads the Sun and Moon from the Swiss Ephemeris tables and the sunrise at your chosen place. Three things decide the window.

First, parana is done on Dwadashi, the tithi after Ekadashi, so the window begins after that day’s sunrise. Second, the opening quarter of Dwadashi, called Hari Vasara, is avoided: the fast is not broken until Hari Vasara has ended. Third, the window must close before Dwadashi itself ends, because the fast is meant to be broken within Dwadashi. Where the day allows it, the window is also kept within the first fifth of the daytime, the morning period called Pratahkala, which is when most families prefer to eat.

If Hari Vasara runs on beyond the morning, the window moves to the afternoon, and the calculator does the same. Now and then the whole of the morning falls before Hari Vasara has ended, which is why the window can start later than you expect for one Ekadashi and early for the next.

Which day is the fast day

The tool names the Smarta Ekadashi, the day on which the tithi is present at sunrise, using the rule of this site’s festival engine, which we checked against the Drik Panchang lists. Many Vaishnava families follow a stricter rule and keep the next day, called Dwadashi Ekadashi, in years when the tithi covers parts of two days, and some Smarta households keep the other day when Ekadashi is present at two sunrises. The parana time then moves a day later too. If you belong to a Vaishnava sampradaya, check your own community’s calendar for the fast day and use this tool for the timings and the sunrise at your place.

Reading the result

The answer at the top is the parana window for the next Ekadashi after the date you chose, with the parana day. The table beneath it shows when the Ekadashi tithi begins and ends, when Hari Vasara ends and when Dwadashi ends, so you can see how much room the day gives. A long window means you can break the fast comfortably at breakfast time. A short one, sometimes under an hour, is worth planning around the evening before.

The list below it shows the next twelve Ekadashis with their fast days and parana windows, which is useful for planning a year of fasting. Every Ekadashi has its own name and story, collected on the Ekadashi guide, and the same Ekadashi can fall a day apart in two cities.

Why the city matters

Sunrise is the anchor of the rule, and sunrise differs from city to city, as does the clock on the wall. An Ekadashi that is present at sunrise in Delhi may already have ended at sunrise in Sydney, and a city on daylight saving shifts every time by an hour. The calculator takes the time zone in force at your city on that date, so a family in Houston and a family in Hyderabad each see their own local times.

Where traditions differ

Families differ on how strictly to follow the window. Some break the fast at the first moment it opens, some wait for a convenient hour inside it, and those who cannot manage a full fast begin the day with water, fruit or milk as their custom allows. Whether to take grain at parana, what to offer first, and whether to feed a guest before eating are matters of family and community practice. Nothing here is medical advice: if you have a health condition, diabetes or are pregnant, ask your doctor before fasting.

For other dates, see the festival dates for any city, the Ekadashi tithi page and the panchang for any place and date.

Frequently asked questions