Rama Ekadashi 2026: Date (Thursday 5 November), Parana Time by City, Tithi, Vrat Katha and Diwali Week

Quick answer: Rama Ekadashi 2026 is on Thursday 5 November in India. Drik Panchang gives the Ekadashi tithi from 11:03 AM IST on Wednesday 4 November to 10:35 AM IST on Thursday 5 November. Break the fast (parana) in Delhi on Friday 6 November, 6:37 AM to 8:48 AM. In the USA and Canada the fast falls a day earlier, on Wednesday 4 November, with parana on Thursday 5 November.

Part of Diwali 2026: dates and muhurat for all five days are in our Diwali 2026 guide. See also: Diwali 2026 date and Lakshmi Puja muhurat and the 5 days of Diwali 2026.

Last updated: 25 October 2026. We have rewritten this page with Drik Panchang's parana windows for Delhi, Hyderabad and New York, a 28-city table, Smarta and Vaishnava dates, and a health note. Rama Ekadashi is eleven days away; Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) follows on Sunday 8 November.

Rama Ekadashi 2026 kab hai: date and tithi (रमा एकादशी 2026 कब है)

Ekadashi is current at sunrise on Thursday 5 November everywhere in India, so the whole country fasts on Thursday. The Hari Vasara (the first quarter of Dwadashi, when parana is avoided) ends on Thursday afternoon, so the parana on Friday morning simply has to finish before Dwadashi ends at 10:30 AM IST. Day panchang: 5 November 2026 and 6 November 2026 (parana and Dhanteras).

Also read: Saphala Ekadashi 2027, Pausha Putrada Ekadashi 2027, Shattila Ekadashi 2027, Jaya Ekadashi 2027, Ekadashi dates and parana by city (all Ekadashis).

Rama Ekadashi 2026 date and parana time by city (पारण का समय)

In New York Drik Panchang gives the fast on Wednesday 4 November with parana on Thursday 5 November, 6:31 AM to 8:34 AM, and Dwadashi ending at midnight. The same Wednesday date applies across the USA and Canada because the Ekadashi tithi is already running at Wednesday's sunrise there.

All times are local clock times for each city, worked out separately for that city; they are not India's times shifted. Clocks used: US cities and Toronto on standard time (DST ended on 1 November 2026); London on GMT; Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland on summer time; and, under the 2026 provincial changes, British Columbia on UTC−7, Alberta on UTC−6 and Manitoba on UTC−5 all winter. Rows for Delhi, Hyderabad, New York, Vancouver, Seattle and the Bay Area use Drik Panchang's published windows where we checked them; the others come from our calculator, which matches Drik's windows to within one or two minutes. Where a window is very short, check Drik for your exact city.

Smarta and Vaishnava dates: why London and Frankfurt show two days

Smarta households keep Ekadashi on the day the tithi is current at sunrise. Many Vaishnava traditions (ISKCON, Gaudiya and Sri Vaishnava calendars) add a stricter test: if Dashami is still running at arunodaya, about 96 minutes before sunrise, the fast moves to the next day. In London and Frankfurt Ekadashi begins only shortly before Wednesday's dawn, so Smarta families fast on Wednesday 4 November and Vaishnava families on Thursday 5 November. Both cities' Smarta parana then falls in the early afternoon of Thursday, because the Hari Vasara lasts through the morning. Everywhere else in our table both traditions keep the same day. If your temple publishes its own calendar, follow it.

Rama Ekadashi vrat katha: Chandrabhaga and Shobhana

This is our own retelling. The Rama Ekadashi mahatmya is traditionally attributed to the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, told by Krishna to King Yudhishthira; the Ekadashi mahatmya collections in Hindi and Telugu repeat it with small differences.

King Muchukunda was a devoted follower of Vishnu and a friend of the gods. In his kingdom everyone, even the animals, was kept from food on Ekadashi. His daughter Chandrabhaga married Shobhana, a gentle prince who was physically weak and found fasting very hard.

Shobhana came to stay at his father-in-law's palace in the month of Kartika, just as Rama Ekadashi arrived. When the drum announced the fast, he was afraid. Chandrabhaga told him that no one in her father's land ate on that day and that, if he could not fast, he might go elsewhere. Shobhana decided to keep the vrat. Hungry and thirsty, he did not survive the night.

Chandrabhaga performed his last rites and stayed on in her father's house, keeping every Ekadashi. Because of the fast, Shobhana received a shining kingdom on Mount Mandarachala. A Brahmin named Somasharma from Muchukunda's kingdom saw him there, enthroned but uneasy: the kingdom, Shobhana said, was not stable, because he had fasted out of fear rather than faith.

When Chandrabhaga heard this, she went to the mountain, helped on her way by the sage Vamadeva. She offered Shobhana the merit of the Ekadashis she had kept since childhood. The kingdom became steady, and the two lived there together. Krishna ends the story by saying that the Rama Ekadashi fast, kept with faith, frees a person from the weight of past wrongs.

Variations: some tellings say Chandrabhaga had kept Ekadashi from the age of eight; some name the mountain only as Mandara; some stress Shobhana's lack of faith, others the sincerity of Chandrabhaga's offering. The teaching most families take is that faith, not fear, gives a vrat its meaning, and that devotion can be shared.

Rama Ekadashi and Diwali week

Because Rama is a name of Lakshmi, many families use the Ekadashi to begin Diwali preparations quietly: cleaning the house and the puja shelf, lighting a lamp before Lakshmi-Narayana, and reading the katha in the evening. In Gujarat and Maharashtra, Vagh Baras or Vasu Baras (Govatsa Dwadashi), which honours cows and calves, falls on the same Thursday in 2026, because Dwadashi begins at 10:35 AM IST and covers the evening.

Rama Ekadashi vrat vidhi: a simple home puja

On Dashami, Wednesday 4 November

• Eat one light, sattvic meal; many families avoid grains and beans from sunset.
• Pick tulasi leaves today if you will use them, because many families do not pluck tulasi on Ekadashi.

On Ekadashi, Thursday 5 November

1. Bathe early, clean the puja space and light a ghee or sesame-oil lamp before an image of Vishnu, Krishna or Lakshmi-Narayana.
2. Take a short sankalpa (intention) in your own words: that you will keep the vrat with devotion, as far as your health allows.
3. Offer tulasi leaves, lotus or yellow flowers, fruit and water to Vishnu, and red flowers or a lotus to Lakshmi if you keep her image beside him.
4. Read the Rama Ekadashi katha above, chant Vishnu Sahasranama or a short name-mantra.
5. Keep the fast at the level you can manage (see below). In the evening, do aarti; some families keep a night of bhajans (jagaran).

Parana on Dwadashi, Friday 6 November

• Bathe, do a short puja and offer the food to the Lord first.
• Break the fast inside your local parana window (table above), after the Hari Vasara and before Dwadashi ends. Many begin with tulasi water or fruit, then a simple meal.
• If you can, share food with someone in need before you eat.

Two short mantras many families use, from our verified list:

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय॥

oṃ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya||

Meaning: Salutations to Lord Vasudeva (Krishna, Vishnu).

ॐ श्रीं महालक्ष्म्यै नमः॥

oṃ śrīṃ mahālakṣmyai namaḥ||

Meaning: Salutations to Goddess Mahalakshmi.

Rama Ekadashi 2026: fasting levels and what to eat

Commonly allowed: fruit, milk, curd, paneer, nuts, makhana, potatoes, sweet potatoes, sabudana, and flours of kuttu (buckwheat), rajgira (amaranth) and singhara (water chestnut), usually cooked with rock salt (sendha namak). Simple recipes: sabudana khichdi, kuttu puri and rajgira paratha.

Commonly avoided: rice, wheat and other grains, dals and beans, onion, garlic, meat, eggs and alcohol. Rules differ between families and sampradayas, so follow your elders or your temple.

Health note: if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, elderly, diabetic, have low or high blood pressure, take regular medication (especially insulin or other diabetes medicines, or blood-pressure tablets) or are recovering from illness, do not keep a strict or waterless fast without your doctor's advice. Do not skip prescribed medicines for a fast. Drink water and eat if you feel dizzy or unwell. Children do not need to fast. A sattvic meal with sincere prayer honours the day just as well; no vrat should put your health at risk, and no vrat promises a particular result.

Rama Ekadashi for NRI families

• A midweek fast: in North America the fast is on Wednesday 4 November, a working day. A phalahar fast with a packed lunch of fruit and nuts, a morning lamp and an evening aarti fits a normal workday.
• Early parana: parana windows in the USA and Canada start at local sunrise on Thursday and last about two hours, so most people can break the fast at home before work.
• Diwali shopping week: Indian grocers are busy before Diwali; buy sabudana, kuttu flour and makhana a few days early.
• Children: the story of Chandrabhaga's steady devotion is a good one to tell before Diwali, alongside the story of Lakshmi.

Ekadashi dates: November 2026 to February 2027

For every Ekadashi with parana windows in 28 cities on one page, see our Ekadashi dates, parana times and vrat rules guide.

Rama Ekadashi 2026: frequently asked questions

When is Rama Ekadashi 2026?

Rama Ekadashi 2026 is on Thursday 5 November 2026 in India, per Drik Panchang. In the USA and Canada it is Wednesday 4 November. In London and Frankfurt Smarta families fast on Wednesday 4 November and Vaishnava families on Thursday 5 November. Australia, New Zealand, the Gulf, Singapore and Malaysia keep Thursday 5 November.

What is the Rama Ekadashi parana time in 2026?

In Delhi, break the fast on Friday 6 November between 6:37 AM and 8:48 AM (Drik Panchang); Dwadashi ends at 10:30 AM IST. In Hyderabad the window is 6:17 AM to 8:34 AM. In New York it is Thursday 5 November, 6:31 AM to 8:34 AM. See the city table for other places.

Why is it called Rama Ekadashi?

Rama is a name of Goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu. The Ekadashi falls in the dark fortnight just before Diwali, when Lakshmi is worshipped, so many families honour Lakshmi-Narayana together on this day.

Is Rama Ekadashi in Kartika or Ashwin?

Both names are used for the same day. In the purnimanta calendar of North India it is Kartika Krishna Ekadashi. In the amanta calendar used in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat it is Ashwayuja (Ashwin) Bahula Ekadashi.

What is Hari Vasara?

Hari Vasara is the first quarter of Dwadashi. Tradition says the Ekadashi fast should not be broken during it. For Rama Ekadashi 2026 it ends on 5 November in India, well before the next sunrise, so the Friday morning parana is clear.

Who should not keep a strict fast?

People who are pregnant or breastfeeding, elderly, diabetic, unwell or on regular medication should not keep a strict or waterless fast without their doctor's advice. A simple sattvic meal with prayer is a valid way to keep the day.

Editor's note

Editor's note (25 October 2026): The India date, the Ekadashi tithi times and the parana windows for Delhi, Hyderabad and New York come from Drik Panchang's Ekadashi pages. The 28-city table comes from our ephemeris calculator, which reproduces Drik's rules (Ekadashi at sunrise, the Dashami-at-arunodaya rule for Vaishnava dates, Hari Vasara, and the afternoon parana when Hari Vasara runs late) and matched every Drik Ekadashi date we checked for Delhi, New York and Sydney, and Drik's parana windows for Delhi, Hyderabad, New York, Vancouver, Seattle and San Jose to within one or two minutes, including the very short windows. The katha is our own retelling; customs vary by family, region and sampradaya. If your temple announces a different day, follow your temple. Nothing here promises any particular result.

Related guides

• Diwali 2026: complete 5-day guide
• Lakshmi Puja vidhi 2026
• November 2026 vrat and fasting days
• Ekadashi dates, parana times and vrat rules
• Vishnu Sahasranama: complete guide
• December 2026 vrat and fasting calendar
• Why Hindus fast: the meaning of upavasa