Utpanna Ekadashi 2026: Date, Parana Time, Story and Vrat Vidhi

Utpanna Ekadashi 2026 falls on Friday, 4 December, and the fast is broken on Saturday, 5 December, between about 6:59 am and 9:04 am (New Delhi). It is the Ekadashi of the waning moon in Margashirsha, the first Ekadashi after Dev Uthani Ekadashi, and it has a special place among the 24 Ekadashis of the year: it is remembered as the day Ekadashi herself appeared.

Utpanna Ekadashi 2026 date and parana time

Detail	2026 (New Delhi, approximate)
Utpanna Ekadashi	Friday, 4 December 2026
Ekadashi tithi	About 11:03 pm on 3 December to 11:44 pm on 4 December
Parana (breaking the fast)	Saturday, 5 December, about 6:59 am to 9:04 am
Dwadashi ends	About 12:51 am on 6 December
Lunar month	Margashirsha Krishna Ekadashi (Purnimanta); Kartik Krishna Ekadashi (Amanta)
Next Ekadashi	Mokshada Ekadashi and Gita Jayanti, Sunday, 20 December 2026

This year Ekadashi is the tithi at sunrise only on 4 December, so Indian panchangs give one date for both householders and Vaishnava communities. Clock times shift with location, and outside India the date itself can move, so check a panchang for your city. Parana should be done after sunrise on Dwadashi and before Dwadashi ends.

The story of Utpanna Ekadashi

The account is told in the Uttara Khanda of the Padma Purana (chapter 38 in common editions), where Krishna narrates it to Yudhishthira. In brief:

• Mura conquers heaven. In the Satya Yuga a powerful demon named Mura defeated Indra and the gods and drove them from heaven.
• Vishnu fights and rests. Vishnu came to the gods’ aid and destroyed Mura’s army, but Mura himself kept fighting. After a battle the text describes as lasting a thousand divine years, Vishnu withdrew to Badarikashrama and lay down to rest in a long cave called Simhavati, which had only one entrance.
• A maiden arises. Mura followed him into the cave, meaning to kill him in his sleep. At that moment a radiant maiden, born of a portion of Vishnu’s own power and bearing divine weapons, came forth from his body. She met Mura in battle and, in the Padma Purana’s telling, reduced him to ashes with a single cry of hum.
• The boon. Vishnu awoke, saw the fallen demon and asked who had protected him. The maiden explained, and Vishnu, pleased, offered her a boon. Because she had appeared on the eleventh lunar day, she became known as Ekadashi, and Vishnu blessed those who fast on her day.

Popular retellings add details, for example that Mura’s city was Chandravati or that the goddess beheaded him, and they differ on the length of the battle. The core is the same in all of them: the power that protects is Vishnu’s own, and the vow of Ekadashi is honoured as a form of that protection. The name Utpanna, “the one who arose”, comes from this story. A Hindi retelling is on our उत्पन्ना एकादशी व्रत कथा page.

Why many people begin Ekadashi fasts on this day

Since this is Ekadashi’s appearance day, it is the traditional day to take a sankalpa (resolve) to keep the Ekadashi fast regularly. If you are new to the practice, read what Ekadashi is and why it is kept first, and choose a level of fasting you can sustain. A small vow kept steadily is better than a strict one abandoned after a month.

Utpanna Ekadashi vrat vidhi

1. Dashami (3 December): eat a simple sattvic meal before sunset and avoid grains after that, so the fast begins cleanly.
2. Morning of Ekadashi: bathe, clean the prayer space and take a sankalpa, stating the kind of fast you will keep.
3. Puja: place an image of Vishnu or Krishna, or a Shaligram if your family keeps one. Offer water, sandalwood paste, yellow flowers, tulsi leaves (picked the day before, since tulsi is traditionally not plucked on Ekadashi), fruit, a ghee lamp and incense.
4. Chant and read: recite Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya (see the Vishnu mantra), read the Vishnu Sahasranama or a chapter of the Bhagavad Gita, and read or listen to the Utpanna Ekadashi katha.
5. Evening: perform aarti, such as Om Jai Jagdish Hare. Some devotees keep a night vigil with kirtan.
6. Parana on 5 December: after the morning puja, break the fast within the parana window, ideally with tulsi water and a light meal. Giving food or a donation before eating is a common practice.

Fasting rules and food

• Avoid: rice, wheat, pulses, beans and other grains. Many households also avoid onion and garlic.
• Allowed in a phalahar fast: fruit, milk, curd, paneer, nuts, sabudana, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and kuttu, singhara or rajgira flour, with rock salt.
• Types of fast: nirjala (without water), water only, fruit and milk only, or one fasting meal. Children, older people, pregnant women and anyone with a medical condition should keep a gentle fast or simply observe the prayer.

Other observances around Utpanna Ekadashi

Utpanna Ekadashi comes three days after Kaal Bhairav Jayanti on 1 December and is followed by Vivah Panchami on 14 December and Gita Jayanti on 20 December. See every date in our list of Hindu festivals in December 2026, plan the year ahead with the Ekadashi 2027 list, and explore more Vishnu mantras.

Date and parana times were checked against Drik Panchang for New Delhi and cross-checked with other published 2026 panchangs. The story summary follows the Padma Purana, Uttara Khanda.