2026 Mohini Ekadashi: Date, Timings, Vrat Katha, Puja Vidhi & Everything You Need to Know

Mohini Ekadashi is the Ekadashi of the Shukla Paksha in the month of Vaishakha, observed in honour of Lord Vishnu and linked in tradition with His Mohini form. Of the twenty-four Ekadashis in the lunar year, this one is set apart in the Puranic accounts for its association with freedom from moha—attachment and delusion—and for the weight the scriptures give to sincere observance.

In 2026 the fast is kept on Monday, 27 April. The notes below cover the tithi window, the Parana on the following morning, the Vrat Katha told by Sage Vashistha, the connection with the Mohini avatar, and a clear puja and fasting vidhi. Local sunrise and Hari Vasara end times differ by place, so confirm the day on your own city panchang before you fix Parana.

What follows is the classical method as house tradition presents it: what the texts prescribe, how the day is kept, and how the ashram marks Vishnu-centred rites around this tithi—without adding claims the scriptures do not make.

2026 Mohini Ekadashi Date and Tithi Timings

Mohini Ekadashi 2026 is observed on Monday, 27 April 2026. The Ekadashi tithi begins in the evening of the previous day and runs through most of the 27th; because the tithi is current at sunrise on that Monday, the Udaya-tithi rule places the fast on the 27th.

Parana is taken on Tuesday, 28 April 2026, after Hari Vasara—the first quarter of Dwadashi—has ended. Breaking the fast during Hari Vasara is held in tradition to undo the merit of the vrat. The window above is a New Delhi reference only; sunrise and the end of Hari Vasara shift with longitude, so use the tithi calendar or your local panchang for the exact slot where you live. The wider list of vrats and festival dates for the year is also on the festival calendar.

What Mohini Ekadashi Is, and Why Tradition Marks It

Ekadashi is the eleventh lunar day. Mohini Ekadashi falls in Vaishakha Shukla Paksha and is dedicated to Sri Vishnu. The name points to two layers at once: the enchanting Mohini form of the Lord, and moha itself—the confusion and clinging that bind the jiva. Observance is framed in the texts as a deliberate turning away from that grip through fasting, restraint, and Vishnu-nama.

In the Mahabharata tradition, Sri Krishna expounds the greatness of this Ekadashi to Yudhishthira. The Smriti and Vaishakha Mahatmya passages compare the punya of a sincere fast with the merit of large-scale yajnas, pilgrimage, and the gift of many cows—not as a modern guarantee of results, but as the classical measure of how highly the day is ranked. Vaishakha itself is treated as a month especially suited to dana, snana, and Vishnu aradhana, which is why this Ekadashi is given extra weight in the calendar.

Devotees who wish to pair the home vrat with a fire offering often look to Vishnu-centred rites such as the Pancha Suktha Homa, in which the principal Vishnu suktas are recited into the homa. Broader options for devotion-focused homas are grouped under spiritual growth and devotion.

Mohini Ekadashi Vrat Katha

The Vrat Katha is narrated by Sage Vashistha to Sri Rama in the Vaishakha Mahatmya. In the city of Bhadravati lived a prosperous and dharmic vaishya named Dhanpala. His son Dhrishtabuddhi took the opposite path—waste, bad company, and every kind of vice—until he was cast out and reduced to wandering.

Broken and hungry, Dhrishtabuddhi reached the ashram of Sage Kaundinya on the banks of the Tungabhadra. The sage, moved by compassion, taught him the power of Mohini Ekadashi in Vaishakha Shukla Paksha: that a wholehearted fast and night-long remembrance of Vishnu could cleanse even heavy, long-carried papa. Dhrishtabuddhi kept the vrat with full surrender, stayed awake chanting the Lord’s name, and, the katha says, was freed of his sins; at the end of life he attained Vishnu’s abode.

The story is told each year so that the devotee hears one clear point: the door of this Ekadashi is open even to one who has fallen far, provided the observance is sincere. Reading or listening to the katha on the day of the fast is itself part of the vidhi.

Why It Is Called Mohini: The Avatar and the Tithi

The name also rests on the Samudra Manthan narrative. When amrita rose from the ocean and the asuras seized it, Vishnu took the form of Mohini—beauty joined to sharp intelligence—and recovered the nectar so that it was given only to the devas, preserving the cosmic order.

Tradition holds that this manifestation is remembered on the Ekadashi of Vaishakha Shukla Paksha, which is why the tithi bears the name Mohini. The form is not celebrated for charm alone; it stands for divine discernment overcoming force and delusion. In several South Indian Vaishnava temples the day is marked with special alankara; in the Tamil calendar the tithi falls in Chithirai, in the Malayalam calendar in Edavam, and in the Bengali reckoning around Jyeshto, though the underlying Shukla Ekadashi of Vaishakha is the same observance.

Puja Vidhi and How to Keep the Vrat

On Dashami (26 April 2026) take a single light sattvic meal in the afternoon. Avoid rice, heavy pulses, onion, garlic, and non-vegetarian food. Rest early and form the sankalpa for the next day’s fast.

On Ekadashi (27 April 2026) rise in Brahma muhurta, bathe, and wear clean clothes—yellow or another light colour is customary for Vishnu puja. Take sankalpa with a little water in the palm. Arrange a clean seat with a yellow or red cloth, place a murti or picture of Sri Vishnu or Narayana, light deepa and dhupa, and offer tulsi, yellow flowers, fruit, and naivedya. Where a full abhisheka is kept, panchamrita is used. Chant Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya—tradition favours 108 repetitions on a tulsi mala—and recite or hear the Vishnu Sahasranama. Perform arati, share prasad, and read the Vrat Katha. Guidance on steady japa is set out in the house note on how to chant a mantra correctly.

Fasting grades follow capacity: Nirjala (no water), Jalahar (water only), Phalahari (fruit and permitted roots), or Ksheera-based (milk products). Grains, cereals, wheat, rice, and legumes are set aside for the day; rock salt (sendha namak) replaces ordinary salt; onion, garlic, brinjal, and intoxicants are avoided. Permitted items commonly include fresh fruit, dry fruit, milk, curd, paneer, sabudana, kuttu and singhare flours, potato, sweet potato, and raw banana.

Jagran: Scriptures praise staying awake in Vishnu-nama, Gita patha, or bhajan through the night. Health comes first—even a few extra hours of quiet devotion after sunset are counted as part of the observance.

Parana, Dana, and Closing the Observance

On the morning of 28 April 2026, wait until Hari Vasara has ended, then break the fast inside the local Parana window. Begin with a sip of water—often tulsi-infused—offer a short prayer to Sri Vishnu, and take a simple sattvic meal. Do not rush the break before the prescribed time.

Dana is treated as a natural companion to the vrat. Tradition especially mentions food and grain for the needy, tulsi plants in Vaishakha, yellow cloth or sweets linked with Vishnu, books or scriptural texts, and drinking water in the hot season. The gift is valued for the purity of the giver’s mind, not for display.

If you are unsure which supporting rite fits your chart or family custom, the free Ask Nirnaya ritual guide can point you to an appropriate observance. The ashram performs named priest-led pujas and homas at the Yagna Ashram near Coimbatore and at temples in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, telecast live for devotees wherever they are.

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