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Shukla paksha · Ashwin · amanta reckoning

When is Papankusha Ekadashi 2026?

Papankusha Ekadashi 2026 is on Thursday, 22 October. Parana, breaking the fast, is on 23 October, 06:00 to 08:17 in Varanasi.

Also called Papankusa Ekadashi, Pashankusha Ekadashi. Those are the same observance and the same date, so they share this page rather than competing with it from a second URL.

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Timings on this page are computed for Varanasi.

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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 Varanasi

The date in Varanasi

Thursday, 22 October 2026

Papankusha Ekadashi 2026 timings in Varanasi
TimingVaranasiWhat it is
Parana (breaking the fast), 23 Oct 202606:00 to 08:17The window is the first fifth of the daylight (pratahkala).

Papankusha Ekadashi is not a Gregorian date. It is Shukla paksha tithi 11 of Ashwin 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, Shukla paksha
Lunar month
Ashwin (amanta)
Tithi begins
21 Oct, 14:12
Tithi ends
22 Oct, 14:49
Decided at
Sunrise
Sunrise in Varanasi
22 Oct, 05:59

Sunrise in Varanasi falls at 05:59 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.

Shukla paksha · Ashwin

Papankusha Ekadashi 2026: Smarta and Vaishnava dates

Listed here (Smarta, the sunrise rule)
Thursday, 22 October 2026 — 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
Thursday, 22 October 2026 — 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 Thursday, 22 October 2026 (22 Oct, 04:23) is already inside Ekadashi, not Dashami.

Every day above is computed for Varanasi 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

Papankusha Ekadashi vrat katha and significance

Papankusha is the Ekadashi of the bright half of Ashwin — the first Ekadashi after Navratri and Dussehra. It is kept for Vishnu in his Padmanabha form, the lotus rising from his navel. The name joins papa, wrongdoing, and ankusha, the goad a mahout uses to turn an elephant: the day is understood as a check on one's own conduct. Beyond the fast, families spend it in japa of Vishnu's names and give grain, cloth, sesame or a lamp according to their means.

The katha

Retold in brief from the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, in the Ekadashi-mahatmya where Krishna tells each Ekadashi's story to Yudhishthira (some Hindi vrat-katha books place it in the Padma Purana).

In the Vindhya hills lived a fowler called Krodhana — "the wrathful" — and the name fitted the life. He hunted, robbed travellers on the mountain paths and spent his years in harm, never asking what would follow. When old age came, he dreamt one night that Yama's messengers were waiting for him, and the fear of it drove him up the hill to the ashram of the sage Angira.

He fell at the sage's feet and asked whether any road was left for a man who had done nothing but damage. Angira did not turn him away. The Ekadashi of the bright half of Ashwin was near, he said: keep it fully — fast through the day, stay awake through the night remembering Vishnu as Padmanabha, and on Dwadashi feed others before breaking the fast — and the weight of the past would be turned, as a goad turns an elephant.

Krodhana did exactly that. The Purana says the fast lifted his burden, and that at the end of his life he went not to Yama's city but to Vishnu's. Krishna closes the story by telling Yudhishthira that this is why the day is called Papankusha: it is the goad held over sin.

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 · Varanasi

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 2026 with tithi and parana times

Muhurat · Varanasi

Papankusha Ekadashi muhurat

Papankusha 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 VaranasiWhat it is
Abhijit Muhurat 11:19 to 12:05 Auspicious
Amrit Kaal 13:18 to 14:59 Most Auspicious
Brahma Muhurat 04:19 to 05:09 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 Varanasi
Rahu Kaal 13:08 to 14:33
Yamaganda Kaal 05:59 to 07:25
Durmuhurta First 09:48 to 10:33
Durmuhurta Second 14:22 to 15:08
Varjyam 03:16 to 04:53

Every window above is computed for Varanasi on Thursday, 22 October 2026, 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.

Papankusha 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 Monday, 14 October 2024 past
2025 Friday, 3 October 2025 past
2026 Thursday, 22 October 2026 upcoming
2027 Monday, 11 October 2027 upcoming
2028 Friday, 29 September 2028 upcoming

Every row is computed for Varanasi 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 Papankusha Ekadashi?

Thursday, 22 October 2026. It is Ekadashi of Shukla paksha in Ashwin, and that tithi runs from 21 Oct, 14:12 to 22 Oct, 14:49.

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

Papankusha is the Ekadashi of the bright half of Ashwin — the first Ekadashi after Navratri and Dussehra. It is kept for Vishnu in his Padmanabha form, the lotus rising from his navel. The name joins papa, wrongdoing, and ankusha, the goad a mahout uses to turn an elephant: the day is understood as a check on one's own conduct. Beyond the fast, families spend it in japa of Vishnu's names and give grain, cloth, sesame or a lamp according to their means.

Where does the Papankusha Ekadashi vrat katha come from?

It is told in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, in the Ekadashi-mahatmya where Krishna tells each Ekadashi's story to Yudhishthira (some Hindi vrat-katha books place it in the Padma Purana). The katha is retold in full above.

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

Not this year — both keep Thursday, 22 October 2026. The Vaishnava rule reads Ekadashi at arunodaya, and Ekadashi already holds that day's arunodaya.