Sayana Ekadasi is the eleventh day of the waxing Moon in the lunar month of Ashadha, which falls in the Tamil months of Aani or Aadi. From this day Vishnu is said to sleep on the serpent Adisesha for four months. In the Tamil country, where the great Vishnu temples already show him lying down, it opens Chaturmasyam, the season when the heads of the mathas stay in one place and teach.
The story
The image of the sleeping god is at the heart of Tamil Vaishnavism. The twelve Azhvars sang of him lying at Srirangam, at Tiruvallur, at Kumbakonam, on the shore at Mahabalipuram; one of them, Tirumazhisai Azhvar, is said to have asked the Lord at Kumbakonam to rise and speak, and the image there is shown half risen.
Every Ekadasi is a fast for Vaishnavas; this one begins the four months of small vows that end when he is woken in the month of Aippasi or Karthigai.
How it is kept
- The fastRice is avoided; fruit, milk and tiffin made without rice are taken, and the fast is broken on Dwadasi with agathi keerai and nellikkai.
- Vishnu SahasranamamRecited at home and in temples.
- Chaturmasya sankalpamSannyasis take the vow to stay put for the season, and receive visitors there.
- TulasiWorshipped morning and evening.
Why this date
Sayana Ekadasi is the Ekadasi of the bright fortnight of Ashadha. The fast is kept on the day Ekadasi is present at sunrise, arranged so that it can be broken during Dwadasi the next morning.
Sayana Ekadasi in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Sunday | |
| 2026 | Saturday | |
| 2027 | Wednesday | |
| 2028 | Sunday | |
| 2029 | Saturday | |
| 2030 | Thursday |
More Tamil festivals
29 JulyGuru Purnimaகுரு பூர்ணிமா
28 AugustVaralakshmi Vratamவரலட்சுமி விரதம்
30 MayVaikasi Visakamவைகாசி விசாகம்
19 AprilAkshaya Tritiyaஅட்சய திருதியை
14 AprilPuthanduதமிழ்ப் புத்தாண்டு
4 SeptemberGokulashtamiகோகுலாஷ்டமி
Where to see Sayana Ekadasi
In Tamil Nadu
- SrirangamTamil NaduThe largest functioning temple in the country, to Vishnu asleep on an island in the Kaveri.
- Sarangapani Temple, KumbakonamTamil NaduThe Lord shown rising from his couch at a poet's call.
- Veeraraghava Perumal, TiruvallurTamil NaduA reclining Vishnu visited on new-moon and Ekadasi days for the cure of illness.
- Sthalasayana Perumal, MahabalipuramTamil NaduThe Lord lying on the bare ground by the sea.
Across India
- PandharpurMaharashtraAshadhi Ekadashi, when the walking pilgrimage of the Warkaris arrives.
- ThiruvananthapuramKeralaPadmanabha, the sleeping Lord from whom the city takes its name.
- PuriOdishaThe deities are dressed in gold on their chariots.