Apara Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the dark half of Vaishakha, and it falls in the heat of early summer. It is also called Achala Ekadashi in some places, and the day is kept to ask for steadiness of mind and for peace for those who have died unhappily. In Odisha the day is linked with the worship of Jagannath.
Apara Ekadashi falls in the Krishna paksha, the waning fortnight, of Vaishakha in the amanta calendar (months that end at the new Moon). In the purnimanta calendar of north India, where the month ends at the full Moon, the same fortnight belongs to Jyeshtha.
The katha
For Apara Ekadashi, as for the other named Ekadashis, the tradition points to the Padma Purana and the Bhavishyottara Purana, in which a teacher answers a king or a sage in turn, and printed versions differ in small details. The katha is about a righteous king and his envious brother.
King Mahidhwaja was a gentle and just ruler of a prosperous kingdom, loved by his people. His younger brother, Vajradhwaja, was jealous of him and, one night, killed him and hid the body under a peepal tree in the forest. Vajradhwaja then took the throne.
Mahidhwaja, who had died suddenly and by violence, became a preta, a restless spirit, and haunted the tree and the road past it, so that people were frightened to use it. One day the sage Dhaumya passed by, saw the spirit with his inner sight and learned what had happened. Moved by pity, he cleared the road, taught the spirit the way of truth and, so that the king could be freed, kept the Apara Ekadashi himself and gave the merit of the fast to him.
The tradition says that Mahidhwaja was freed from the preta state and rose to a higher world, while the sage returned home. The tale is told to say that a fast kept with compassion for another can bring relief, and the day is often kept for family members who have died.
How the fast is kept
The usual fast is kept with worship of Vishnu, and in many homes a lamp is lit and the names of Vishnu are chanted. Some families also give food or water to a person in need in memory of a departed relative, as the day carries the theme of peace for the dead.
In Odisha, devotees go to Jagannath temples and keep a special day of worship. Elsewhere, the day is a quiet one of prayer and charity.
For Apara Ekadashi the dates here follow the Smarta reckoning, which takes the day on which the eleventh tithi is present at local sunrise. A Vaishnava family may observe Apara Ekadashi on the following day when Dashami touches the dawn of the first one, so ask your family or temple which calendar they trust. Break the fast on the following morning inside the Timing window, after sunrise and while Dwadashi lasts, avoiding the first quarter of Dwadashi. A fast for Apara Ekadashi should never leave you unwell. People with long-term conditions, expectant and nursing mothers and older family members can keep a lighter version, and should take their doctor’s advice first.
Where it sits in the year
Before Apara Ekadashi comes Mohini Ekadashi. After it the next is Nirjala Ekadashi, unless it is an Adhika Jyeshtha year, when Padmini Ekadashi and Parama Ekadashi come first. To see the whole round, open the Ekadashi page. The Ekadashi vrat vidhi gives the order of worship for Apara Ekadashi, and the Ekadashi tithi page explains the tithi.