Dev Uthani Ekadashi 2026: Date, Parana Time, Story and Puja Vidhi

Dev Uthani Ekadashi 2026 falls on Friday, 20 November. Also called Prabodhini or Devotthana Ekadashi, it is the Ekadashi of Kartik Shukla Paksha, when Vishnu is said to wake from his four-month yoga nidra. It ends Chaturmas, opens the wedding season and leads into Tulsi Vivah on 21 November. Vaishnava traditions fast on 21 November.

Dev Uthani Ekadashi 2026 date and parana time

Detail	2026 (New Delhi, approximate)
Dev Uthani Ekadashi (Smarta)	Friday, 20 November 2026
Ekadashi tithi	About 7:15 am on 20 November to 6:31 am on 21 November
Parana (breaking the fast)	About 1:11 pm to 3:18 pm on 21 November
Hari Vasara ends	About 12:07 pm on 21 November
Gauna / Vaishnava Ekadashi	Saturday, 21 November; parana about 6:49 am to 8:56 am on 22 November
Tulsi Vivah	Saturday, 21 November (Dwadashi)

When an Ekadashi spans two sunrises, panchangs list two dates: most householders (Smarta) fast on the first, while ISKCON and other Vaishnava communities often fast on the second. Follow your own tradition. Parana should not be done during Hari Vasara, the first quarter of Dwadashi. All times are for New Delhi; confirm locally.

Why Vishnu “wakes up” on this day

Hindu tradition holds that Vishnu rests in yoga nidra on the serpent Shesha in the cosmic ocean for four months, from Devshayani Ekadashi in Ashadha to Prabodhini Ekadashi in Kartik. This period is Chaturmas, a time of vows, scripture, simplicity and restraint, when weddings and new household beginnings are usually postponed.

On Dev Uthani Ekadashi devotees “wake” the Lord with conch, bells and songs. The day therefore marks a turning point: Chaturmas closes, Tulsi Vivah is celebrated, and the season of marriages and auspicious ceremonies begins. In many traditions it also opens Bhishma Panchaka, the last five days of Kartik, which run from 20 November to Kartik Purnima on 24 November in 2026.

For more on why Ekadashi is kept twice a month and what the fast means, read what Ekadashi is.

Dev Uthani Ekadashi puja vidhi

1. Morning: bathe early, clean the home and take a sankalpa for the fast.

2. Draw Vishnu’s feet: in many North Indian homes, women draw the feet of the Lord with rice paste or chalk from the door towards the prayer space, and draw a simple rice-flour design in the courtyard.

3. Prepare the altar: place an image of Vishnu, a Shaligram if your family keeps one, or a picture of Krishna. Some households build a small mandap of sugarcane over it.

4. Offerings: offer seasonal produce such as sugarcane, water chestnut (singhara), sweet potato, ber and other fruit, along with tulsi leaves, flowers, a ghee lamp and incense.

5. Awaken the Lord: in the evening, blow a conch or ring bells and sing devotional songs. A traditional verse recited in many homes is:

   उत्तिष्ठ गोविन्द त्यज निद्रां जगत्पते। त्वया चोत्थीयमानेन उत्थितं भुवनत्रयम्॥

   Uttishtha Govinda tyaja nidram jagatpate, tvaya chotthiyamanena utthitam bhuvanatrayam.

   “Rise, O Govinda, give up sleep, Lord of the world. When You rise, the three worlds rise.”

6. Chant and read: recite Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya, the Vishnu mantra or the Vishnu Sahasranama, and sing Om Jai Jagdish Hare.

7. Night: many devotees keep vigil (jagaran) with kirtan.

8. Parana: break the fast the next day within the parana window, ideally with tulsi water and a sattvic meal.

Fasting rules

• Avoid rice, wheat, pulses and beans on Ekadashi; rice is avoided by most households even if they are not fasting.
• Common fasting foods are fruit, milk, curd, nuts, sabudana, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and kuttu, singhara or rajgira flour, with rock salt.
• Choose the level of fast that is safe for you. Children, older people, pregnant women and those with medical conditions can keep a phalahar (fruit and milk) fast or simply observe the prayer.

Dev Uthani Ekadashi and Tulsi Vivah

The day after Dev Uthani Ekadashi, on Dwadashi, many families celebrate the wedding of the tulsi plant to Vishnu as Shaligram or Krishna. Read the full Tulsi Vivah 2026 date, story and puja vidhi, and see the Kartik Purnima and Dev Deepawali guide for the full moon that closes the month four days later. More Vishnu devotion is collected in the powerful Vishnu mantras guide and the ten avatars of Vishnu. For every date in the season, see the Hindu festival calendar 2026.