Parama Ekadashi 2026 — Thursday, 11 June 2026

About Parama Ekadashi

Parama Ekadashi comes in the dark half of an adhik (extra) lunar month, so like Padmini it is kept only about once in three years. Parama means “the highest”, and the day is linked with relief from poverty and hardship.

Also called: Purushottami Ekadashi

The katha

In Kampilya lived a poor but honest brahmin, Sumedha, and his wife Pavitra, who shared what little they had with guests. When poverty became too hard and Sumedha thought of leaving to seek work, the sage Kaundinya visited them and told them to keep Parama Ekadashi in the adhik month, fasting for five days. They kept it, and their hardship ended.

A summary of the Ekadashi mahatmya in the Padma and Bhavishya Uttara Puranas.

About this day

This day falls in an adhik (extra) lunar month, also called Purushottam Maas and Mal Maas. Festivals are not held in an adhik month; they move to the regular (nija) month that follows. The month itself is given to devotion: reading, charity and the worship of Vishnu.

How Ekadashi is kept

• The fast runs from sunrise on Ekadashi to the parana on the next day. Many eat a single simple, sattvic meal on Dashami evening, before the fast begins.
• Grains and pulses, rice above all, are traditionally avoided. Fruit, milk, curd, nuts and phalahar foods such as sabudana, kuttu, singhara and potato are commonly eaten; the exact custom differs from family to family.
• The fast can be kept at different levels: nirjala (without water), phalahar (fruit and milk), or one meal without grains. Choose what suits your body; no single level is required of everyone.
• The day is given to Vishnu: tulsi leaves, a lamp, the Vishnu Sahasranama or a mantra such as Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, and the katha of that Ekadashi. Tulsi is usually picked the day before, as many avoid plucking it on Ekadashi.
• Some stay awake at night singing bhajans (jagaran), and many give food or grain in charity.
• Parana is on Dwadashi, within the window shown in the list: after Hari Vasara, ideally early in the day, and before Dwadashi ends. The fast is usually broken with something light, often with a little tulsi water.
• Anyone who is pregnant or nursing, elderly, diabetic, on regular medication or unwell can keep a lighter fast — fruit and milk, or one meal — or simply keep the day in prayer. If you have a health condition, ask your doctor before fasting.

Ekadashi: the full guide and every date

Questions people ask