Vishnu's fasting day, twice every lunar month — the 24 Ekadashis, their rules, and why the vrat day sometimes differs between calendars. Next Ekadashi dates for Ottawa and Canada, computed for your timezone.
When: The eleventh tithi of every waxing and waning fortnight — about 24 times a year; the next Ottawa dates are below
Devoted to: Vishnu — Ekadashi is the great Vaishnava vrat
The fast: From grains and beans above all; full and nirjala fasts for the able; always broken (parana) in the Dwadashi window next morning
The greatest: Nirjala Ekadashi (Jyeshtha Shukla) — waterless, counted equal to all 24 kept together
Each has a name: All 24 have names and stories — Utpanna, Mokshada, Devshayani, Prabodhini, and the rest
What Ekadashi Is
Ekadashi — "the eleventh" — is the recurring fast of the Hindu calendar: the eleventh tithi of each bright and dark fortnight, dedicated to Vishnu, arriving roughly every fifteen days throughout the year. The Padma Purana personifies the day as a goddess, Ekadashi Devi, born of Vishnu to defeat the demon Mura — which is why the vrat's origin story is told on Utpanna Ekadashi, her 'birth' day (the full katha is in our library, linked below). Each of the year's twenty-four Ekadashis carries its own name and mahatmya: Devshayani, when Vishnu enters his four-month sleep; Prabodhini, when he wakes; Mokshada, when the Gita was spoken; Vaikuntha Ekadashi in the south, when the doors of Vaikuntha stand open. The practice is older than any single story — a fortnightly discipline that clears the body and points the mind.
Keeping the Vrat
The universal rule is abstaining from grains and beans — rice, wheat, dals — which tradition holds absorb the day's tamas; the observant eat phalahar (fruit, milk, nuts, sabudana, specific flours) or fast fully. The strictest form is nirjala — without even water — kept universally on Nirjala Ekadashi in Jyeshtha, whose merit is said to equal all twenty-four. The day is spent with Vishnu: Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya japa, Vishnu Sahasranama or the Ekadashi katha of the fortnight, and for many, a night vigil. The vrat ends the next morning with parana — breaking the fast within a specific Dwadashi window, itself part of the discipline; breaking too early or too late is traditionally held to forfeit the vrat. Our calendar computes each Ekadashi's parana window for Ottawa.
Why the Date Sometimes Differs — and Ekadashi in Ottawa
Ekadashi is the vrat where timezone precision matters most. The rule is not "the day containing the eleventh tithi" but the day whose sunrise falls in Ekadashi — and when the tithi straddles sunrise awkwardly, smarta and vaishnava traditions can legitimately fast on different days. Ottawa's sunrise is hours from India's, so the correct Ottawa Ekadashi genuinely differs from the India date several times a year — following a Delhi calendar in Ottawa will have you fasting on the wrong day. The dates on this page and our festival calendar are computed against Ottawa's actual sunrise. Practically, the vrat is easy to keep in Canada: sabudana, kuttu and singhara flours and rock salt are at every Indian grocer, and the fortnightly rhythm — next date always visible on this page — makes it the tradition's most sustainable regular practice.
Each link opens our computed festival calendar with exact dates and timings for your city.
Questions
When is the next Ekadashi in Ottawa?
The next Ekadashi — with its traditional name — is shown in the Festivals & Dates list on this page, computed against Ottawa's actual sunrise. Our festival calendar lists the whole year, with parana times.
Why is my Ekadashi date different from my family's in India?
The vrat day is decided by which local sunrise falls within the Ekadashi tithi — and Ottawa's sunrise is hours away from India's. Several times a year the correct fasting day genuinely differs between the two places; each person follows their own local calculation.
What can I eat on Ekadashi?
The core rule is no grains or beans. Phalahar observance allows fruit, milk and dairy, nuts, sabudana, and flours like kuttu and singhara with rock salt. The able may fast fully; Nirjala Ekadashi is traditionally kept without even water. Break the fast in the next morning's parana window.
Source: Padma Purana, Brahma Vaivarta Purana, Ekadashi Mahatmya tradition. Regional versions may vary — this text follows the version most widely used in community worship.