If you keep Ekadashi, Pradosh or Sankashti, you have probably seen two calendars disagree. Neither is wrong - they use different rules, or different cities. Here's what's going on.
A tithi is not a day
A tithi is the time the Moon takes to move 12° ahead of the Sun. It can be as short as about 19 hours or as long as about 26 hours, and it starts at any time of day. So a calendar has to decide which date a tithi "belongs" to. The usual rule is the tithi at sunrise: whatever tithi is running when the Sun rises in your city is the tithi of that day.
Two odd cases follow:
- Kshaya tithi: a short tithi starts after one sunrise and ends before the next, so no sunrise "sees" it. Calendars still mark it on the day it occurs.
- Vriddhi tithi: a long tithi covers two sunrises, so it appears on two dates.
Ekadashi: Smarta and Vaishnava
Ekadashi has its own rules. Smarta (most household) calendars observe it on the day with Ekadashi at sunrise. Vaishnava traditions (ISKCON and others) reject an Ekadashi "touched" by Dashami in the early morning before sunrise (arunodaya) and fast the next day. That's why ISKCON's date is sometimes a day later.
Pradosh is kept on the day Trayodashi runs at sunset, Sankashti Chaturthi by Chaturthi at moonrise, and Masik Shivratri by Chaturdashi at midnight - so these too can shift by a day from the sunrise tithi.
Upcoming dates (Delhi, by sunrise tithi)
| Date | Tithi |
|---|---|
| 22 Oct 2026 | Shukla Ekadashi (Papankusha) |
| 26 Oct 2026 | Purnima (Sharad Purnima falls on the night of the 25th-26th) |
| 5 Nov 2026 | Krishna Ekadashi (Rama) |
| 9 Nov 2026 | Amavasya (Diwali Lakshmi puja is on the evening of 8 Nov, when Amavasya prevails at pradosh) |
| 24 Nov 2026 | Purnima (Kartik Purnima) |
| 4 Dec 2026 | Krishna Ekadashi (Utpanna) |
| 8 Dec 2026 | Amavasya |
| 20 Dec 2026 | Shukla Ekadashi (Mokshada) |
| 3 Jan 2027 | Krishna Ekadashi (Saphala) |
| 7 Jan 2027 | Amavasya |
| 19 Jan 2027 | Shukla Ekadashi (Pausha Putrada) |
| 22 Jan 2027 | Purnima |
| 2 Feb 2027 | Krishna Ekadashi (Shattila) |
| 6 Feb 2027 | Amavasya (Mauni Amavasya) |
These are calculated for Delhi's sunrise. Other cities can differ, and a kshaya Ekadashi (such as Devuthani Ekadashi around 20-21 November 2026) may be listed differently by different traditions - check with your temple. Our free panchang gives the next 30 days of vrat dates for your city.
Fasting at the right time
Ekadashi parana (breaking the fast) is done on Dwadashi, after sunrise, and traditionally before Dwadashi ends; avoid the first quarter of Dwadashi (Hari vasara). The panchang's tithi end time tells you when Dwadashi ends.