Indira Ekadashi 2028: Date, Parana Time & Vrat Vidhi

Parana (breaking the fast) is on Saturday, 16 September 2028, from 6:07 AM to 8:34 AM (New Delhi).

Break with water and tulsi, then fruit, then a light non-grain meal; a full meal after.

It is the grain-free Ekadashi fast (the fasting and parana rules are on the Ekadashi page), kept with the merit expressly dedicated to the ancestors during Pitru Paksha.

By its mahatmya a father or forebear suffering in Yama's realm is carried to Vishnu's abode by the son's keeping of this fast.

The Brahmavaivarta Purana tells that King Indrasena of Mahishmati was told by Narada that his late father was in Yama's realm, suffering for a vrat broken in a past life, and that the son's keeping of the Indira Ekadashi, with the merit given to the father, would free him. Indrasena did so, and his father was carried to Vishnu-loka on Garuda.

Source: Brahmavaivarta Purana — the Indira Ekadashi mahatmya

The Indira Ekadashi mahatmya is given in the Brahmavaivarta Purana; the day-rule, parana and vrat vidhi are those of every Ekadashi (see the Ekadashi page). It falls within Pitru Paksha, so its merit is dedicated to the departed.

• Brahmavaivarta Purana — the Indira Ekadashi mahatmya
• Padma Purana — the Ekadashi mahatmyas

1. Falling in Pitru Paksha, this Ekadashi is kept for the ancestors: after the bath a shraddha offering is made, often at midday, before the Vishnu puja.
2. Vishnu is worshipped as Shaligram with tulsi and flowers, and the katha is read: King Indrasena kept this fast on Narada's advice so that his father could rise from Yama's realm.
3. A part of the food prepared for the shraddha is given to a Brahmin or a cow, and the merit of the fast is dedicated to the forefathers.

• Pan-Indian (Vaishnava). Kept during Pitru Paksha with shraddha and tarpana, the fast's merit dedicated to the ancestors.

• Phalahar — Fruit, milk and makhana through the day; no grains or pulses.
• Shraddha food — Kheer and puri cooked for the ancestors' offering and given away, not eaten by the fasting person.

Indira Ekadashi is kept on the day when Ekadashi of Ashwin Krishna paksha prevails at sunrise. That day is Friday, 15 September 2028. Ekadashi holds at sunrise only on this day.

at sunrise

Indira Ekadashi is the Krishna Ekadashi of Ashwin — the Moon 120°–132° behind the Sun (sidereal, Lahiri), with the Sun in sidereal Kanya. See the Ekadashi page for the day-rule and the Smarta / Vaishnava difference; the Gregorian date drifts about 11 days earlier each year.

A lunar date: Ekadashi of the dark half of Ashwin drifts about 11 days earlier each solar year, then jumps back ~19 days when a leap (Adhika) month is inserted.