🌿 Dev Uthani Ekadashi (Tulsi Vivah) 2026
Kartik Shukla Ekadashi — Lord Vishnu wakes after four months; the Tulsi-Shaligram wedding and the opening of the marriage season.
- Dev Uthani (Prabodhini) Ekadashi — fast — Friday, 20 November 2026
- Dwadashi — Paran & Tulsi Vivah (in many homes) — Saturday, 21 November 2026
Dev Uthani (Devotthan/Prabodhini) Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the Shukla Paksha of Kartik month — eleven days after Diwali. Lord Vishnu, who went to sleep on Devshayani Ekadashi (Ashadha), wakes on this day after four months of yoga-nidra; with this the Chaturmas ends and auspicious works — weddings, griha pravesh, mundan — begin again.
Women of the house keep the fast on this day, and in the evening build a canopy of sugarcane in the courtyard and marry Tulsi Mata to the Shaligram (Vishnu) — this is Tulsi Vivah; many families do it the next day, on the Dwadashi. Below are this year's date, the paran time, the vidhi, samagri for the mandap, the katha, fasting food and regional customs.
Significance — why this vrat
Of the 24 Ekadashis of the year, Dev Uthani is regarded as the greatest — it marks both the beginning of 'Bhishma Panchak' and the end of Chaturmas. The fast of this day is said to equal the merit of a thousand yajnas.
Tulsi Vivah is performed like the wedding of a daughter of the house — families without a daughter earn the merit of kanyadaan by giving Tulsi away, so the belief goes. Only after Tulsi Vivah are weddings in the home considered auspicious.
The Ekadashi fast lasts from sunrise until the paran after sunrise the next day (Dwadashi) — which is why the Dwadashi date is also shown above. Paran should be done within the Dwadashi, after the Hari Vasar (the first quarter of Dwadashi) has passed and before the Dwadashi ends.
Puja vidhi (step by step)
This is the household vidhi — the day's fast, waking the Lord in the evening and Tulsi Vivah (same day or on Dwadashi).
- Sattvik food from the evening of Dashami; on Ekadashi bathe before sunrise and take the sankalp — 'I keep the Devotthan Ekadashi vrat to please Vishnu and for the family's welfare.' No grain during the day; fruit and milk or waterless, as your strength allows.
- In the morning worship Vishnu/Shaligram and Lakshmi in the home temple — yellow flowers, Tulsi leaves, panchamrit, incense and lamp; chant Vishnu Sahasranama or 'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya'.
- Plaster or wash the courtyard/terrace and draw a chowk with geru and rice paste; on it draw the Lord's footprints and figures of the sun, moon, Tulsi, conch and chakra (many homes call this 'the Lord's feet').
- In the evening (Pradosh Kaal, time above) build a sugarcane canopy over the chowk — tie 4-5 canes bent together; in the centre the Tulsi pot and the Shaligram/Vishnu picture; around it lamps, water chestnut, radish, sweet potato, ber, amla, sugarcane and the new harvest (jaggery and puffed rice).
- Waking the Lord: blow the conch, ring the bell, beat a thali/winnowing fan and sing — 'Utho Dev, baitho Dev, paanv pasaro Dev… haldi-kumkum lagao Dev'; bathe the Lord, offer new clothes, turmeric-kumkum and tilak.
- Tulsi Vivah: dress Tulsi with a red chunari, bangles, bindi and sindoor; yellow cloth for the Shaligram; hold a curtain between them while singing the mangalashtak/wedding songs, then remove it for the garlands, seven rounds (circling the pot), kanyadaan (by a woman or a couple of the house), sindoor-daan; prasad of puffed rice and sweets.
- Aarti — 'Om Jai Jagdish Hare' and the Tulsi aarti; keep the lamps of the house and mandap burning through the night.
- Paran (breaking the fast): on Dwadashi after sunrise, in the paran window given above — first water/food with a Tulsi leaf, food-donation to a Brahmin/the needy, then yourself; the Ekadashi paran must be within the Dwadashi.
Puja samagri checklist
The Tulsi Vivah samagri is like that of a daughter's wedding — in miniature.
- Sugarcane 4-5 (for the canopy), Tulsi pot, Shaligram or Vishnu picture/idol
- Geru, rice flour (chowk and footprints), mauli, roli, turmeric, kumkum, akshat
- For Tulsi: red chunari, bangles, bindi, sindoor, small shringar; yellow cloth for the Shaligram
- 2 garlands, a curtain (white/yellow cloth), aasan
- Lamps (11/21), ghee/oil, incense, camphor, conch, bell
- Seasonal fruit and harvest — water chestnut, radish, sweet potato, ber, amla, sugarcane, carrot; puffed rice, jaggery, lava
- Panchamrit, Tulsi leaves, yellow flowers, sweets (laddoo/kheer)
- Coin, cloth and grain for kanyadaan/donation; items for feeding a Brahmin
- Vishnu Sahasranama / Ekadashi katha book
🛍 Puja samagri & yantras 🙏 Book a puja
Sunrise, moonrise, Rahu Kaal and Choghadiya with your city's exact timings — free.
Open panchang →Vrat katha (the story)
In a king's realm everyone kept the Ekadashi fast — so strictly that even animals and birds got no grain that day. Lord Vishnu decided to test him: taking the form of a beautiful woman he sat by the royal road. The king was enchanted and proposed marriage; she set a condition — 'All authority over the kingdom will be mine and you will obey my every word.'
On Ekadashi the queen had meat and wine cooked in the palace and told the king to eat. The king said — 'It is Ekadashi today; I do not even eat fruit, how can I eat this?' The queen said — 'Then bring me the head of your elder son.' The king was torn; the younger queen said 'better to break the fast', but the elder son said — 'Father, do not abandon dharma, take my head.' As the king raised the sword the Lord appeared — 'King, you stayed firm in dharma; ask a boon.' The king asked — 'I want nothing now but your refuge.' Since then it is said that the Dev Uthani fast asks for unshakeable faith.
The Tulsi Vivah story — Vrinda was the devoted wife of the demon Jalandhar; her chastity made him invincible. At the gods' request Vishnu took Jalandhar's form and broke Vrinda's vow, and Jalandhar was killed. Vrinda cursed Vishnu to become stone (Shaligram) and became sati; from her ashes grew the Tulsi plant. Vishnu granted — 'As Tulsi you will always be worshipped with me; on Kartik Shukla Ekadashi I will wed you.' Hence the Tulsi-Shaligram wedding, and no Vishnu offering is complete without a Tulsi leaf.
Ekadashi fasting food and Tulsi Vivah prasad
Rice and grain are forbidden on Ekadashi — the fast allows sabudana, water-chestnut and buckwheat flour, fruit, milk, makhana. For Tulsi Vivah the new harvest — sugarcane, water chestnut, radish, sweet potato, ber, amla — is offered in the mandap and becomes prasad.
- On the fast day: fruit and milk in the morning; sabudana khichdi or singhara halwa at noon; fruit after the evening puja — rock salt
- Mandap bhog: puffed rice-lava-jaggery, ber, water chestnut, sugarcane, boiled sweet potato, radish, amla, kheer or laddoo
- Wedding feast (in many homes): poori, pumpkin-potato sabzi, kheer, dahi-bada — for family and neighbours after the paran on Dwadashi
- Paran: on Dwadashi, water with a Tulsi leaf, then a light meal (khichdi/dal-rice); no rice on Ekadashi, but rice on Dwadashi
- Pregnant or unwell women keep the fast with milk and fruit — no insisting on a waterless fast
Regional customs
Tulsi Vivah is kept across north, west and east India, but the day and form change with the region.
A custom, tale, song or dish heard from your grandmother — 2-4 lines; after reading we add it on this page with your region's name (the phone is never shown — only to ask you back).
✅ Received — after reading we will add it on this page in 1-2 days. Thank you!Something went wrong — please try again.⏳ Sending…Do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- Restraint from Dashami evening and paran on Dwadashi — the three-day frame of an Ekadashi fast
- Tulsi Vivah in Pradosh Kaal; the sugarcane canopy and the new-harvest offering without fail
- Paran within the Dwadashi, after the Hari Vasar — time above
- Wedding muhurats open from this day — see the muhurat page for a wedding date
- Offer all the suhag items to Tulsi; a daily lamp after the wedding
❌ Don't
- No rice/grain on Ekadashi; do not pluck Tulsi leaves (pluck a day earlier)
- Sleeping in the day, anger, lies — avoided on the fast day
- No paran after the Dwadashi has passed — the vrat is considered broken
- The mandap's sugarcane and fruit never in the garbage — share as prasad or give to a cow
- The unwell should not keep a waterless fast
Frequently asked questions
When is Dev Uthani Ekadashi in 2026?
The date at the top is this year's Kartik Shukla Ekadashi — from panchang calculations; the Dwadashi (paran and, in many homes, Tulsi Vivah) is shown too. In a year when the Ekadashi touches no sunrise (tithi kshaya), it is observed on the day the tithi is present.
Tulsi Vivah on Ekadashi or Dwadashi?
Both are common — usually Ekadashi evening in North India; Dwadashi (Kshirabdhi Dwadashi) or any day up to Purnima in Maharashtra-Gujarat-South. Follow your family's custom.
When to do the Ekadashi paran?
On Dwadashi after sunrise, once the Hari Vasar (first quarter of Dwadashi) has passed and before the Dwadashi ends — usually around 7-9 am. The Dwadashi date is above; the exact span is on the panchang page.
Why do weddings begin after Dev Uthani?
During Chaturmas (Devshayani to Dev Uthani) Vishnu is in sleep, so auspicious works pause; as soon as the Lord wakes, Tulsi Vivah is the first wedding and the wedding season opens.
What is Bhishma Panchak?
The five days from Dev Uthani Ekadashi to Kartik Purnima — Bhishma Pitamah gave his teaching to the Pandavas from the bed of arrows in these days; fasting and charity in these five days is held to be specially fruitful.
Enter your WhatsApp number — a day before every major vrat you get the date, muhurat and samagri checklist. Free; stop any time.
✅ Saved — you will get a message a day before the next vrat.Something went wrong — please try again.⏳ Saving…Also read: Kartik Purnima / Dev Deepawali (4 days later) · Diwali · Chhath Puja · Wedding muhurat
⚠️ This description follows traditional vidhi and folk belief; your own family custom comes first. The paran time shifts with your city's sunrise.
🌐 यह पन्ना हिन्दी में पढ़ें · ← All vrat & festivals · Full festival calendar