Toli Ekādashi is the Telugu name for Āṣāḍha Śukla Ekādaśī, the same tithi known more widely as Devśayanī Ekādaśī. Toli means first, and Telugu elders say that once this Ekādaśī arrives the festivals of the year follow one after another. On this day Viṣṇu enters his yogic sleep on Ananta Śeṣa in the Ocean of Milk, which opens the four months of Cāturmāsya. Temples and households worship him as Padmanābha or Ranganātha. How the day is fixed: The day is Āṣāḍha Śukla Ekādaśī, the eleventh tithi of the bright fortnight, taken at local sunrise. Keep in mind: Because it falls in the bright fortnight, the month is Āṣāḍha in both amānta and pūrṇimānta calendars. In the Tamil solar months it usually comes in Āni or Āḍi, and in the Malayalam months in Mithunam or Karkaṭakam. This year: The 2027 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: Grains and beans are given up from Daśamī evening, and most homes keep phalāhāra rather than a nirjala fast. Some Mādhva homes do keep the fast without water. Pēlāla piṇḍi: Telugu households offer powdered puffed rice mixed with jaggery, called pēlāla piṇḍi, to the deity and eat it as prasāda, and many keep a night vigil. Saṅkalpa and pāraṇa: The Ekādaśī saṅkalpa is taken and the Viṣṇu Sahasranāma and Viṣṇu Aṣṭottara are recited. The fast is broken with pāraṇa on Dvādaśī morning according to the local pañcāṅga. Worth remembering: Devśayanī Ekādaśī is kept as its own observance on the same tithi. From this day until Prabodhinī Ekādaśī in Kārtika, ascetics stay in one place for Cāturmāsya and many communities defer major auspicious ceremonies, and some begin the Gopadma vrata today. Regional names and customs differ. Mādhva homes in Karnataka receive tapta mudrādhāraṇe, Maharashtra walks the Pandharpur vārī, girls in Gujarat begin Moḷākat, and Odisha sees the Suna Beśa. Whether weddings pause through Cāturmāsya also varies, so households consult their elders and purohita. Follow what the elders of your own house have kept.
Comments
Share how your family observes this day, or ask a question. Please keep it kind and on topic.