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Krishna paksha · Pausha · amanta reckoning

When is Shattila Ekadashi 2027?

Shattila Ekadashi 2027 is on Tuesday, 2 February. Parana, breaking the fast, is on 3 February, 06:40 to 08:52 in Varanasi.

Also called Shat Tila Ekadashi, Sattila Ekadashi, Shatila 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

Tuesday, 2 February 2027

Shattila Ekadashi 2027 timings in Varanasi
TimingVaranasiWhat it is
Parana (breaking the fast), 3 Feb 202706:40 to 08:52The window is the first fifth of the daylight (pratahkala).

Shattila Ekadashi is not a Gregorian date. It is Krishna paksha tithi 11 of Pausha 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
Pausha (amanta)
Tithi begins
1 Feb, 08:42
Tithi ends
2 Feb, 11:11
Decided at
Sunrise
Sunrise in Varanasi
2 Feb, 06:40

Sunrise in Varanasi falls at 06:40 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 · Magha (purnimanta) · Pausha (amanta)

Shattila Ekadashi 2027: Smarta and Vaishnava dates

Shattila Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the dark (krishna) half of Magha in the purnimanta reckoning used across North India, and of Pausha 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)
Tuesday, 2 February 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
Tuesday, 2 February 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 Tuesday, 2 February 2027 (2 Feb, 05:04) 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

Shattila Ekadashi vrat katha and significance

Shattila Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the dark fortnight of Magha in the purnimanta reckoning — Pausha Krishna in the amanta one — in the cold of January. Shat-tila means "six ways with sesame": sesame is used in the bath water, rubbed on the body as a paste, offered in the fire, mixed in the water given to the ancestors, eaten, and given away. The day is kept for Vishnu, and above all for charity of food.

The katha

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

A brahmin widow lived a life of strict devotion. She kept every vrat, fasted until her body was thin, and gave generously to brahmins and temples — but she never once gave anyone food.

To test her, Vishnu came to her door as a mendicant and asked for alms. Irritated, she dropped a lump of clay into his bowl, and he went away.

When she died, her austerities carried her to heaven, where she was given a beautiful house — and found it completely empty: no grain, no food, nothing. She went to Vishnu in distress, and he told her that she had fasted much but had never fed anyone, and that the only thing she had ever put in a beggar's bowl was the lump of clay that had built her house.

He told her what to do: when the wives of the gods came to see her, she should not open her door until they had told her how to keep the Shattila Ekadashi. She did so, kept the fast with its six uses of sesame, and her house filled with grain and every good thing. Krishna tells Yudhishthira that on this day sesame and food given away return many times over.

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 2027 with tithi and parana times

Muhurat · Varanasi

Shattila Ekadashi muhurat

Shattila 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 11:49 to 12:33 Auspicious
Amrit Kaal 05:13 to 07:01 Most Auspicious
Brahma Muhurat 04:56 to 05:48 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 14:57 to 16:20
Yamaganda Kaal 09:26 to 10:49
Durmuhurta First 08:53 to 09:37

Every window above is computed for Varanasi on Tuesday, 2 February 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.

Shattila 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 Tuesday, 6 February 2024 past
2025 Saturday, 25 January 2025 past
2026 Wednesday, 14 January 2026 past
2027 Tuesday, 2 February 2027 upcoming
2028 Saturday, 22 January 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 Shattila Ekadashi?

Tuesday, 2 February 2027. It is Ekadashi of Krishna paksha in Pausha, and that tithi runs from 1 Feb, 08:42 to 2 Feb, 11:11.

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

Shattila Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the dark fortnight of Magha in the purnimanta reckoning — Pausha Krishna in the amanta one — in the cold of January. Shat-tila means "six ways with sesame": sesame is used in the bath water, rubbed on the body as a paste, offered in the fire, mixed in the water given to the ancestors, eaten, and given away. The day is kept for Vishnu, and above all for charity of food.

Where does the Shattila Ekadashi vrat katha come from?

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

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

Not this year — both keep Tuesday, 2 February 2027. The Vaishnava rule reads Ekadashi at arunodaya, and Ekadashi already holds that day's arunodaya.