Ekadashi is the eleventh day of each lunar fortnight in the Hindu calendar, observed twice each month (once in the Shukla Paksha, once in the Krishna Paksha) for a total of twenty-four Ekadashis per year (twenty-six in years with an Adhika Maasa). The Ekadashi fast is a Vaishnava observance dedicated to Vishnu, observed by phalahar (fruit and milk) and by abstention from grains and legumes. This article details what is permitted, what is forbidden, the special categories, and the practical points the tradition treats as essential. The Padma Purana, the Vishnu Smriti and the Hari Bhakti Vilasa are the principal textual sources.
The single most important rule: no grains, no legumes
The central restriction on Ekadashi is the prohibition of all grains and all legumes. This single rule is what defines an Ekadashi fast as different from any other Hindu fast.
- Forbidden grains: rice (raw, parboiled, basmati, brown, white, all forms), wheat (in any form: chapati, paratha, suji, maida, dalia), barley, oats, ragi, jowar, bajra, maize (corn), all rice-based products (puffed rice, flat rice, rice flour), all wheat-based products (bread, biscuits, pasta, vermicelli).
- Forbidden legumes: all dals (moong, chana, urad, masoor, toor), chickpeas (whole and split), kidney beans, all sprouted legumes, soya, peanuts (technically a legume, but historical tradition varies), beans of all varieties.
- Forbidden combinations: packaged spice blends often contain grain or legume binders (garam masala may contain wheat dust; hing in commercial form often contains wheat flour); these are avoided in strict observance.
The textual reason cited in the Padma Purana is that grains were created from the body of Mura (a demon killed by Vishnu’s daughter Ekadashi); abstaining from grains on her day honours both Ekadashi and Vishnu. The structural reason is that grains and legumes are the body’s principal calorie sources; abstaining from them creates the observance.
What you CAN eat: the permitted list
- All fruits: banana, apple, pomegranate, papaya, pineapple, orange, melon, grapes, mango (in season), guava, custard apple, jujube, jamun, all berries.
- Milk and dairy: milk, curd, paneer, butter, ghee, malai, khoya, condensed milk, fresh cream. Cheese is generally avoided in strict observance.
- Permitted vegetables: potatoes (the most-used Ekadashi vegetable), sweet potatoes, raw banana, yam (suran), arbi (taro), bottle gourd (lauki), pumpkin, cucumber, tomato, ginger, green chilli, lemon. Root and gourd vegetables are the principal allowance.
- Permitted starches and flours: kuttu (buckwheat flour), singhare ka atta (water chestnut flour), rajgira (amaranth), sama (barnyard millet, also called samvat ke chawal; though it is called “rice” it is botanically a millet and is permitted), sabudana (tapioca pearls), makhana (fox nuts), arrowroot, water chestnut.
- Permitted nuts: almonds, cashews, walnuts, pistachios, raisins, dates.
- Permitted oil and ghee: ghee, peanut oil (despite the legume question, peanut oil has been the traditional Ekadashi cooking medium in many regions for centuries), coconut oil.
- Permitted salt: sendha namak (rock salt) only; regular iodised salt is avoided.
- Permitted spices: cumin (whole or powder), black pepper, green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, dry ginger powder, fresh coriander leaves, mint leaves, dry red chilli, ajwain. Turmeric in mild quantities is permitted by most household traditions.
- Permitted sweeteners: jaggery, white sugar, honey.
- Tulsi: the leaves of the holy basil are not just permitted but actively recommended; Tulsi is Vishnu’s preferred leaf and is offered in the puja and in the parana.
Forms of the fast (varying strictness)
- Nirjala: the strict form. No food, no water, no liquid through Ekadashi until parana on Dwadashi morning. Observed for specific Ekadashis (especially Nirjala Ekadashi in Jyeshtha, and selectively by ascetics).
- Phalahar: the standard household form. Only fruits, milk, and the permitted vegetables listed above. Water freely permitted. No grains, no legumes.
- Single meal (ekahara): a single sattvic meal is taken once during Ekadashi, made from permitted ingredients (potatoes, lauki, fruit, dairy, kuttu or singhare flour items). The rest of the day is fasting or phalahar.
- Saalaja phalahar: the most relaxed form. Vrat-permitted food eaten freely through the day; the principal observance is the avoidance of grains and legumes rather than the calorie restriction.
Most household practitioners observe the saalaja phalahar form: vrat food eaten through the day in normal quantities, with attention to the grain and legume prohibition. This is the form the Padma Purana primarily prescribes for householders; the stricter forms are for ascetics and for specific Ekadashis.
Why Vaishnavas observe more strictly
The Vaishnava tradition (Sri Vaishnava, Gaudiya Vaishnava, ISKCON, Madhva, Vallabha) observes Ekadashi as a structural part of Vishnu devotion. The Vaishnava convention adds a layer:
- Smarta Ekadashi vs Vaishnava Ekadashi: the two calendars sometimes produce different dates for the same Ekadashi. The rule that selects the date differs: Smarta uses the udaya tithi (the tithi at sunrise), Vaishnava uses a more strict rule that selects the Ekadashi only when it is unbroken across the full day. When the tithi spans two days, Vaishnavas observe on the second day; Smartas may observe on the first.
- Mahadwadashi: when a special configuration of nakshatras and tithi occurs alongside Dwadashi, the Vaishnava tradition extends the fast to include the Dwadashi day as well, called Mahadwadashi. There are eight Mahadwadashis in a typical year.
- Aksaya Tritiya rule: on special Ekadashis like Bhishma Ekadashi (Magha Shukla Ekadashi), Devuthani Ekadashi (Kartik Shukla Ekadashi), and Vaikuntha Ekadashi (Margashirsha or Pausha Shukla Ekadashi), the Vaishnava observance is particularly strict.
The Smarta tradition observes Ekadashi but with less elaborate calendrical refinement; the household chooses based on its sampradaya orientation.
The named Ekadashis and their weight
Each of the twenty-four Ekadashis has a specific name, story, and merit attribution. The highest-merit Ekadashis, observed even by those who do not observe all twenty-four:
- Vaikuntha Ekadashi: Margashirsha or Pausha Shukla Ekadashi (December-January). The day Vishnu’s Vaikuntha Dwara is open; temples open their Vaikuntha Dwara for darshan.
- Bhishma Ekadashi: Magha Shukla Ekadashi (January-February). The day Bhishma began the Vishnu Sahasranama recitation.
- Mokshada Ekadashi: Margashirsha Shukla Ekadashi (December). The day the Bhagavad Gita was recited; Gita Jayanti.
- Sayana Ekadashi (Devshayani): Ashadha Shukla Ekadashi (June-July). The day Vishnu enters yoga nidra; Chaturmasa begins.
- Devuthani Ekadashi (Prabodhini): Kartik Shukla Ekadashi (October-November). The day Vishnu rises from yoga nidra; Chaturmasa ends; Tulsi Vivah is performed.
- Nirjala Ekadashi: Jyeshtha Shukla Ekadashi (May-June). The strictest single Ekadashi; Bhima’s vrat.
- Aparaa Ekadashi: Jyeshtha Krishna Ekadashi. Read as giving the merit of all the others.
Practical points for the modern observer
- Buy fresh sendha namak and kuttu flour in advance: these are not always available at short notice; many households keep a small Ekadashi-only pantry.
- The kitchen requires separation: Ekadashi cooking should not mix with regular cooking; some households keep separate vessels and a separate part of the kitchen for Ekadashi.
- Sleep early on Ekadashi night: the night vigil tradition (jagran) is for those who can; most household practitioners sleep at the usual hour, rising early on Dwadashi for parana.
- Drink water through Ekadashi (in phalahar observance): the body’s dehydration risk is real if water is restricted; the phalahar form permits unlimited water.
- The donation tradition closes the merit: a small donation (food, money, clothes) to a brahmana, poor person, or temple after Ekadashi closes the merit cycle.
For what it’s worth, the most defensible single recommendation for a household starting Ekadashi observance is to start with just two Ekadashis per year (Vaikuntha and Nirjala) before committing to the full twenty-four. The full annual cycle is demanding; sustaining two with full strictness teaches the practice better than attempting twenty-four with declining strictness.
Common questions
Why are potatoes and tomatoes permitted but rice not?
The Padma Purana’s grain prohibition is specifically about cereal grains (rice, wheat, barley, millets) and the legume family. Potato, sweet potato, yam, and the other tubers are not grains; they are root vegetables. Tomato is a fruit (botanically) and not a grain. The Hindu prohibition specifically targets the grain category for theological reasons (the Mura story above), not nutritional reasons. The permitted vegetables fall outside the grain category and are therefore acceptable.
Is peanut a legume or a nut for Ekadashi purposes?
Botanically a legume; ritually treated as a nut in most Indian Ekadashi traditions because of long usage. The Maharashtrian and Gujarati Ekadashi tradition uses peanut extensively (in sabudana khichdi, in poha-style vrat food); the stricter Vaishnava tradition (especially Gaudiya and Sri Vaishnava) treats peanut as a legume and excludes it. Households follow their sampradaya; the question is genuinely contested.
Can I do strenuous physical work on Ekadashi?
The phalahar fast does not specifically restrict physical activity; the body is well-nourished on fruits, milk and the permitted vegetables. Strenuous activity (intense exercise, long-distance travel) is discouraged because Ekadashi is read as a day of reflection and Vishnu-focused practice; the activity tradeoff is more about attention than calories. Routine work is permitted.
A limitation worth noting
Sub-sampradaya variations are real and consequential. The Sri Vaishnava, Gaudiya Vaishnava, Madhva, Vallabha and Smarta traditions each have their own refinements to the rules; some permit certain spices, some forbid them; some accept peanut, some do not; some include the Mahadwadashi extensions, some do not. The list above is the broadly accepted north Indian Vaishnava and Smarta standard. The family’s elders or sampradaya manual are the authority for sampradaya-specific rules. For an overview see the Wikipedia entries on Ekadashi and the Padma Purana.
