🛌 Devshayani Ekadashi (Harishayani / Ashadhi Ekadashi) Puja Vidhi — step by step
This is the household vidhi — the preparation on Dashami, the Ekadashi fast and Vishnu's sleep, the Chaturmas vow, paran on Dwadashi.
How to do Devshayani Ekadashi (Harishayani / Ashadhi Ekadashi) — the steps
- Dashami (a day before): a sattvic meal in the evening (no rice — many homes), celibacy at night; cleaning the house, preparing Vishnu's bed (a small cot/wooden seat, yellow-white cloth, pillow).
- Ekadashi morning: bathe, yellow clothes; sankalp — 'the Devshayani Ekadashi vrat, keeping (the rule) in Chaturmas'; the worship of Vishnu-Lakshmi — the panchamrit bath, yellow clothes, sandalwood-akshat (no rice — sesame/barley), Tulsi leaves (essential), yellow flowers, incense-lamp, naivedya (fruit-panjiri-kheer).
- Mantras: 'Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya' 108 times, the Vishnu Sahasranama/the Ekadashi katha (below), 'Supte tvayi Jagannatha jagat suptam bhaved idam, vibuddhe tvayi budhyeta jagat sarvam characharam' — the sleep prayer.
- Vishnu's sleep (evening/Pradosh): yellow clothes for the Vishnu idol/shaligram, paan-supari-clove-cardamom, laying him to sleep on the bed, covering with a sheet, lamp, aarti — 'now you may rest, we will wake you in Kartika'; Lakshmi puja alongside; in places Vishnu's picture is covered from this day (until Devuthani).
- The Chaturmas vow: one rule before Vishnu — giving up onion-garlic/greens/curd/milk, daily Gita reading, a Tulsi lamp, celibacy, sleeping on the floor, charity, an hour of silence — whatever can be kept; share one rule each in the family.
- Tulsi: Chaturmas is the season of Tulsi service — daily water and lamp, preparing for the Tulsi wedding (Kartika); today a chunari for the Tulsi, 'Tulsi Mata ki jai'.
- On the fast day: fruit (kuttu-singhara-sabudana-fruit-milk) or waterless; no rice-wheat-lentils; no sleeping in the day, a night vigil/kirtan (if possible); charity — grain, clothes, umbrellas, footwear (the charity of the rainy season).
- Paran on Dwadashi (the next day): the paran time above (in Dwadashi, avoiding Hari Vasara, after sunrise) — Tulsi water first, then feeding a Brahmin/the poor, then oneself; paran with rice is auspicious (rice given up on Ekadashi, taken on Dwadashi).
Puja samagri checklist
Vishnu's bed, yellow clothes, Tulsi, paan-supari, fasting fare — the Devshayani list.
- Vishnu-Lakshmi idol/picture/shaligram, a bed (small cot/wooden seat), yellow-white cloth, pillow, sheet
- Yellow clothes (for Vishnu), yellow sandalwood, sesame/barley (in place of akshat — no rice), Tulsi leaves, yellow flowers (marigold-kaner-lotus), garland
- Paan, supari, clove, cardamom (the sleep items), panchamrit, Gangajal, saffron
- Incense, lamp, ghee, camphor, aarti thali, kalash, coconut, mango leaves
- Naivedya: fruit (banana-mango-apple), panjiri, sabudana kheer, makhana, sweets (without rice)
- Tulsi chunari, Tulsi lamp; the Ekadashi katha/Vishnu Sahasranama book
- Charity: grain, clothes, umbrella, footwear (rain), yellow clothes-gram
- Fasting fare: kuttu-singhara flour, sabudana, potato, rock salt, fruit, milk
Fruit fare, sabudana khichdi, kuttu, panjiri — the Ekadashi kitchen
Rice, wheat and lentils are forbidden on Ekadashi — fruit fare: sabudana, kuttu-singhara, potato, makhana, fruit-milk, rock salt; Vishnu's bhog is panjiri-fruit-sabudana kheer (with Tulsi); the Dwadashi paran with rice-dal-sabzi; in Maharashtra (Ashadhi) sabudana khichdi, variche tandul (sama rice), ratale kees.
- Sabudana khichdi (peanuts-potato-rock salt), sabudana vada/kheer, sama (varai) rice and kheer
- Kuttu/singhara poori-pakodi, potato with cumin, arbi, bottle-gourd sabzi (rock salt), curd
- Fruit (banana-apple-mango-papaya), milk, makhana kheer, dry fruits, coconut water; those keeping waterless — nothing
- Vishnu's bhog: panjiri (coriander/semolina), fruit, peda, saffron milk — Vishnu's bhog is incomplete without Tulsi leaves
- Maharashtra (Ashadhi): sabudana khichdi, vari-amti, ratale (sweet potato) kees, bhagar; Gujarat (Devpodhi): farali — sabudana vada, moraiyo, singoda flour; Bengal (Shayan): fruit-milk-luchi (some homes)
- Dwadashi paran: rice-dal-sabzi, Tulsi water first; pumpkin/ridge-gourd sabzi (auspicious at paran — some customs)
Rules — do's and don'ts
✅ Do
- The Ekadashi fast (no rice or grain), Vishnu puja with Tulsi leaves, the sleep vidhi and prayer
- The vow of one Chaturmas rule — renunciation/reading/charity — kept until Devuthani
- Paran in Dwadashi at the time above (avoiding Hari Vasara), Tulsi water first
- The charity of the rainy season — umbrellas, footwear, grain, clothes; feeding Brahmins/the poor
- No weddings, mundan or housewarming from today — after Devuthani; keep up vows, fasts and kathas
❌ Don't
- No rice (and things made of rice), wheat-lentils-brinjal-masoor on Ekadashi; no tamasic food
- No plucking Tulsi leaves on Ekadashi (pluck them on Dashami); no cutting hair and nails
- No skipping the Dwadashi paran/stretching to Trayodashi; no paran in Hari Vasara
- No weddings, mundan or housewarming in Chaturmas (exceptions — on a priest's advice); no breaking a vow once taken
- No sleeping in the day, quarrels, lies or speaking ill of others — especially forbidden on Ekadashi
Vrat katha
A famine of three years struck the kingdom of King Mandhata; sage Angira told him — 'keep the vrat of Ashadha Shukla Padma (Devshayani) Ekadashi, Vishnu will be pleased'; the king and his people kept the vrat, the rains … Read the full katha →
Frequently asked questions
When is Devshayani Ekadashi in {Y} and when is the paran?
This year's Ashadha Shukla Ekadashi date and tithi window (Delhi) are above; paran the next day in Dwadashi after sunrise, avoiding Hari Vasara (the first quarter of Dwadashi) — check the exact paran time on the panchang; if Dwadashi ends before noon, paran early in the morning.
What is not done in Chaturmas?
Weddings, engagements (some), mundan, the sacred thread, housewarming, starting a new business (some) — until Devuthani Ekadashi; but some priests allow naming ceremonies, annaprashan and vehicle purchases; Chaturmas is the most auspicious for vows, japa, charity, pilgrimage, katha and satsang.
Which Chaturmas rule should I take?
Whatever can be kept — giving up leafy greens in Shravana, curd in Bhadrapada, milk in Ashwin, lentils in Kartika (tradition); or giving up onion-garlic, one chapter of the Gita daily, a Tulsi lamp, an hour of silence, some charity daily, sleeping on the floor — complete even one with a true heart; the concluding charity on Devuthani.
Why no rice on Ekadashi?
In the Padma Purana sin resides in grain (especially rice) on Ekadashi; folk belief — a part of sage Medha is in rice (on the day of Ekadashi); Ayurveda — one day of light food in a fortnight rests the digestion; paran with rice on Dwadashi is auspicious.
What is the Wari of Pandharpur?
The Warkaris of Maharashtra carry the palanquins from Alandi (saint Dnyaneshwar) and Dehu (saint Tukaram) on foot for 21 days (250 km) to Pandharpur — the darshan of Vitthal and the Chandrabhaga bath on Ashadhi Ekadashi; lakhs of people, dindis, abhang-kirtan — a 700-year-old tradition; the second Wari on Kartiki Ekadashi.
Should women keep it waterless?
Fruit is enough — in the scriptures Ekadashi is a fruit fast; waterless is special only on the Nirjala Ekadashi of Jyeshtha; the pregnant, unwell and elderly take fruit and milk; the essence of the vrat is giving up rice, remembering Vishnu and restraint — not suffering from hunger.
🏠 Devshayani Ekadashi (Harishayani / Ashadhi Ekadashi) 2026 — date, muhurat, full page · All vrat & festivals