Rama Ekadashi 2026 on November 5: how sunrise and Dwadashi decide

Rama Ekadashi, the Ekadashi fast that falls in the week before Diwali, will be observed on Thursday, November 5, 2026, according to published panchang (Hindu almanac) listings. The Ekadashi tithi, or lunar day, begins at about 11:03 am IST on Wednesday, November 4, and ends at about 10:36 am on November 5. Because the tithi is running at sunrise on November 5 and not at sunrise on November 4, the fast is kept on November 5, and it is broken, in the ritual called parana, on the morning of Friday, November 6.

Ekadashi, the eleventh lunar day of each fortnight, comes about 24 times a year, and many households keep it as a fast. The question that recurs every time is which civil day to choose, because a tithi does not begin or end at midnight. It runs from one moment to another, depending on the angle between the Sun and the Moon, and it is usually a little shorter than a full day.

Most panchangs settle this with the udaya tithi, or sunrise, rule: the tithi in force at sunrise colours the whole day. On November 4, 2026, sunrise comes while the previous tithi, Dashami, is still running; Ekadashi begins only in the late morning. On November 5, Ekadashi is in force at sunrise, even though it ends a few hours later. So November 5 is the Ekadashi day for the fast.

The breaking of the fast follows its own rule. According to the texts that panchang makers follow, parana is done on the next day, after sunrise, and while Dwadashi, the twelfth lunar day, is still running. Tradition also asks that the fast not be broken during Hari Vasara, the first quarter of Dwadashi. In 2026, Hari Vasara falls entirely on the afternoon of November 5, so on the morning of November 6 the only constraint is to finish before Dwadashi ends at about 10:31 am. That is why the listed windows close at different times in different cities, and why some listings give a shorter window than others.

The timing also shows how closely the festival season is packed this year. Dwadashi gives way to Trayodashi on the morning of November 6, the tithi on which Dhanteras is observed in the evening, and Diwali follows on November 8. For readers planning travel, work or family gatherings, a fast and its parana fall in the busiest week of the year.

These are calendar calculations and traditional rules. They are not claims about health or any other benefit; those belong to belief and are described here as tradition.

Short-term: Households keeping the fast will observe it on November 5 and break it on the morning of November 6, checking the parana window for their own city.

Long-term: The sunrise and Dwadashi rules explained here apply to every Ekadashi, so the same reasoning can be used through the year.

Who is affected: Families and temples that observe Ekadashi, priests preparing festival calendars, and anyone planning around the Diwali week.

Questions and Answers