Krishna paksha · Bhadrapada · amanta reckoning

When is Indira Ekadashi 2027?

Indira Ekadashi 2027 is on Sunday, 26 September. Parana, breaking the fast, is on 27 September, 06:53 to 09:16 in London.

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Timings on this page are computed for London.

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Outside India

The whole table below is recomputed for the city you pick. That is not cosmetic: an observance decided at moonrise, such as Karwa Chauth, can genuinely fall on a different day in two cities, and the moment the fast ends differs by more than an hour across India.

Computed for London

The date in London

Sunday, 26 September 2027

Indira Ekadashi 2027 timings in London
TimingLondonWhat it is
Parana (breaking the fast), 27 Sep 202706:53 to 09:16The window is the first fifth of the daylight (pratahkala).

Indira Ekadashi is not a Gregorian date. It is Krishna paksha tithi 11 of Bhadrapada 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, Krishna paksha
Lunar month
Bhadrapada (amanta)
Tithi begins
25 Sep, 18:01
Tithi ends
26 Sep, 15:20
Decided at
Sunrise
Sunrise in London
26 Sep, 06:52

Sunrise in London falls at 06:52 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.

Krishna paksha · Ashwin (purnimanta) · Bhadrapada (amanta)

Indira Ekadashi 2027: Smarta and Vaishnava dates

Indira Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the dark (krishna) half of Ashwin in the purnimanta reckoning used across North India, and of Bhadrapada in the amanta reckoning used in the south and west. It is the same night: the two calendars name the dark fortnight after different months.

Listed here (Smarta, the sunrise rule)
Sunday, 26 September 2027 — 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
Sunday, 26 September 2027 — 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 Sunday, 26 September 2027 (26 Sep, 05:16) is already inside Ekadashi, not Dashami.

Every day above is computed for London 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

Indira Ekadashi vrat katha and significance

Indira Ekadashi falls inside Pitru Paksha — the dark fortnight of Ashwin by the purnimanta reckoning, Bhadrapada Krishna by the amanta one — and it is the Ekadashi kept for one's ancestors. Families combine the fast with shraddha: food is offered to the pitrs and to brahmins, and the fast's merit is dedicated to forebears who have died. Vishnu is worshipped as Shaligram.

The katha

Retold in brief from the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, in Krishna's Ekadashi-mahatmya to Yudhishthira.

King Indrasena ruled Mahishmati and was devoted to Vishnu. One day the sage Narada came to his court with a message: on a visit to Yama's realm he had met the king's father, who was still held there because of a lapse in his life — an Ekadashi vow he had broken.

The father had asked Narada to tell his son that there was a way to release him: if Indrasena kept the Ekadashi of the dark fortnight of Ashwin, called Indira, and gave its merit to him, he would be freed.

Narada then explained how to keep it. On Dashami the king should bathe and perform shraddha for his ancestors at midday, eat once, and keep the night clean. On Ekadashi he should fast, perform shraddha again with Shaligram worship, offer the pinda to cows, and stay awake through the night. On Dwadashi he should feed brahmins and his family before breaking his own fast.

Indrasena kept the vrat with his household exactly so. The Purana says flowers fell from the sky as he finished, and that his father rose on Garuda to Vishnu's abode. Indrasena himself ruled long and, at the end of his life, reached the same abode.

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 · London

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 · every Ekadashi of 2027 with tithi and parana times

Muhurat · London

Indira Ekadashi muhurat

Indira Ekadashi is decided at sunrise, which is an instant rather than a window, so there is no anchor window to intersect with the tithi. The generally auspicious windows of the day are below, and Abhijit is the one most commonly used where an observance names no muhurat of its own.

Auspicious windows that day

WindowTime in LondonWhat it is
Abhijit Muhurat 12:27 to 13:15 Auspicious
Amrit Kaal 04:36 to 06:03 Most Auspicious
Brahma Muhurat 05:16 to 06:04 Auspicious

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.

WindowTime in London
Rahu Kaal 17:20 to 18:50
Yamaganda Kaal 12:51 to 14:21
Durmuhurta First 17:14 to 18:02
Varjyam 19:49 to 21:17

Every window above is computed for London on Sunday, 26 September 2027, from that day's sunrise, sunset and the following sunrise. The Vedic day runs sunrise to sunrise, so a window whose clock time falls after midnight still belongs to the date named above rather than to the one the wall clock has turned over to.

Indira 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.

YearDateStatus
2024 Saturday, 28 September 2024 past
2025 Wednesday, 17 September 2025 past
2026 Tuesday, 6 October 2026 past
2027 Sunday, 26 September 2027 upcoming
2028 Friday, 15 September 2028 upcoming

Every row is computed for London 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 Indira Ekadashi?

Sunday, 26 September 2027. It is Ekadashi of Krishna paksha in Bhadrapada, and that tithi runs from 25 Sep, 18:01 to 26 Sep, 15:20.

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

Indira Ekadashi falls inside Pitru Paksha — the dark fortnight of Ashwin by the purnimanta reckoning, Bhadrapada Krishna by the amanta one — and it is the Ekadashi kept for one's ancestors. Families combine the fast with shraddha: food is offered to the pitrs and to brahmins, and the fast's merit is dedicated to forebears who have died. Vishnu is worshipped as Shaligram.

Where does the Indira Ekadashi vrat katha come from?

It is told in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, in Krishna's Ekadashi-mahatmya to Yudhishthira. The katha is retold in full above.

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

Not this year — both keep Sunday, 26 September 2027. The Vaishnava rule reads Ekadashi at arunodaya, and Ekadashi already holds that day's arunodaya.