Dev Uthani Ekadashi 2026: Date, Story and Vrat Vidhi

Dev Uthani Ekadashi 2026 falls on Friday, 20 November. It is the day Vishnu is believed to wake from his four-month cosmic sleep, ending Chaturmas and opening the Hindu wedding season. Also called Prabodhini Ekadashi or Devutthana Ekadashi, it is the eleventh day of the bright half of Kartik, and it leads straight into Tulsi Vivah the next day. Here is the date, the story and how the vrat is kept.

Dev Uthani Ekadashi 2026 date and parana

The Ekadashi fast is kept on Friday, 20 November 2026, and broken (parana) on Saturday, 21 November, after sunrise and within the Dwadashi tithi. Some Vaishnava communities in western India keep the Ekadashi on 21 November. Exact tithi and parana times change by city, so check a local panchang before breaking the fast.

The story: Vishnu’s sleep and awakening

According to the Puranas, Vishnu lies down on the serpent Shesha in the ocean of milk on Devshayani Ekadashi, in the month of Ashadha, and sleeps for four months. This period is Chaturmas, when weddings, house-warmings and other new beginnings are traditionally avoided and devotees take on vows and extra discipline. On Prabodhini Ekadashi, the gods and sages wake him with hymns, conch shells and bells, and auspicious work resumes across the world.

A related story, told in Puranic and popular tradition, links the sleep to King Bali. After Vishnu, as Vamana, sent Bali to the underworld, he was so pleased with Bali’s devotion that he agreed to stay with him as a guardian. Lakshmi later won Vishnu’s return, and the four months of Chaturmas are said to mark his time in Bali’s realm. The Padma and Skanda Puranas both praise the merit of fasting on this Ekadashi.

How the Dev Uthani Ekadashi vrat is kept

1. Fast: devotees avoid grains and beans; many keep a fruit-and-milk fast, and some keep it without water.
2. Waking the Lord: in the evening, an image of Vishnu or a drawing of his feet in rice flour is placed under a canopy of sugarcane. Families sing “Utho Dev, baitho Dev” (rise, O Lord, sit, O Lord), ring bells and blow conches.
3. Offerings: seasonal produce of the harvest, such as sugarcane, water chestnut (singhara), sweet potato, jujube and new grain, along with tulsi leaves.
4. Night vigil: many stay awake singing bhajans and reading the Ekadashi katha.
5. Parana: the next morning, the fast is broken after offering food to Vishnu and to brahmins or the needy.

Why weddings start after Dev Uthani

Because Vishnu, the preserver, is considered asleep during Chaturmas, families wait for his awakening to begin marriages and other major ceremonies. From Prabodhini Ekadashi onward, the wedding muhurat season opens, and the marriage of Tulsi and Shaligram on the following day is treated as the first wedding of the season.

The meaning of the festival

Dev Uthani Ekadashi marks the turn from rest to renewal. The four months of Chaturmas are a time for inner discipline; the awakening of Vishnu brings that discipline back into active life. For the companion Ekadashi of the winter month, read about Vaikuntha Ekadashi.

Frequently asked questions