Indirā Ekādaśī is the Ekādaśī that falls inside Pitṛ Pakṣa, the fortnight set apart for the ancestors. In the Padma Purāṇa account, sage Nārada visits King Indrasena and tells him that his late father suffers in a preta state in Yamaloka because a śrāddha was obstructed. Nārada instructs the king to keep Indirā Ekādaśī and dedicate its merit to his father. Indrasena does so, and his father is freed and rises to Viṣṇu's abode. Because its own legend turns on an ancestor's release, the vow is regarded as one of the most dependable for merit offered to the pitṛs. How the day is fixed: The pañcāṅga takes Bhādrapada Kṛṣṇa Ekādaśī in amānta reckoning, and the vow is kept on the Ekādaśī day fixed by sunrise. It always falls within Pitṛ Pakṣa, four days before Mahālaya Amāvāsyā. Keep in mind: Calendars that end the month at the full moon call the same fortnight Āśvina Kṛṣṇa, so the name of the month differs while the day does not. Because the tithi is read at local sunrise, the Ekādaśī can fall a day apart in different places. This year: The 2026 date shown here is worked out from sunrise at the place you chose, so in another city the same day can fall a day earlier or later. The fast: The fast begins on Daśamī night and follows the usual Ekādaśī rule of avoiding grain and pulses. Most people keep phalāhāra with fruit and milk, and a waterless fast is not required. Merit for the ancestors: Following Indrasena's example, the merit of the fast is offered to one's ancestors. Many households pair the vow with tarpaṇa or śrāddha, offering sesame and water in the name of the departed. Pāraṇa on Dvādaśī: The fast is broken the next morning on Dvādaśī, within the usual pāraṇa window. The exact window should be checked against a local pañcāṅga. Worth remembering: Indirā Ekādaśī is not Mahālaya Amāvāsyā, which comes four days later and closes Pitṛ Pakṣa. Navarātri begins the day after that new moon, so this Ekādaśī stands at the turn from the ancestors' fortnight to the Goddess's. Customs around the day follow each region's way of honouring the ancestors. Tamil homes keep it within the Puraṭṭāsi Mahālaya pakṣam, Gujarati homes alongside the kāgvās and dūdhpāk of the śrāddha days, and Marathi homes within the pitṛ-pandharavaḍā. In Bengal and Odisha it is remembered as the Ekādaśī before Mahālayā. How strictly the fast is kept, and whether a tarpaṇa is added, is best settled by following the elders of one's own house.
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