Vaikuntha Ekadasi is the Ekadasi of the waxing Moon in the Tamil month of Margazhi. Before dawn the northern gateway of every Vishnu temple, the Sorga Vasal or Paramapada Vasal, "the door of heaven", is opened, and the Lord passes through it with the crowd behind him. At Srirangam it is the centre of a twenty-one-day festival at which the four thousand Tamil hymns of the Azhvars are recited.
The story
The festival at Srirangam is traced to Tirumangai Azhvar, who is said to have arranged for Nammazhvar's Tiruvaymozhi to be sung before the Lord over ten nights. The ten days before Ekadasi are Pagal Pathu, the ten after are Ra Pathu, and on the last of them Nammazhvar's release into Vaikuntha is enacted.
The fast of this one Ekadasi is held to carry the merit of all twenty-four in the year.
மார்கழித் திங்கள் மதிநிறைந்த நன்னாளால், நீராடப் போதுவீர்! போதுமினோ நேரிழையீர்!
It is the month of Margazhi, the good day of the full moon. Come, you who would bathe; come, jewelled girls
Andal, the opening of the Tiruppavai, sung each dawn of the month
How it is kept
- Sorga VasalPeople queue through the night to walk through the gateway after the Lord.
- The fastNothing made of rice; many take only tulasi water. It is broken at dawn on Dwadasi.
- Staying awakeThe night is passed in the temple, or playing paramapadam, the old game of snakes and ladders, at home.
- Araiyar SevaiAt Srirangam hereditary singers perform the hymns with gesture before the deity.
Why this date
Vaikuntha Ekadasi is the Ekadasi of the bright fortnight that falls while the Sun is in Dhanus, that is, in the Tamil month of Margazhi. Some calendar years have none and some have two.
Vaikuntha Ekadasi in other years
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Friday | |
| 2026 | Sunday | |
| 2028 | Saturday | |
| 2029 | Sunday |
More Tamil festivals
24 NovemberKarthigai Deepamகார்த்திகை தீபம்
15 DecemberSubrahmanya Sashtiசுப்ரமண்ய சஷ்டி
14 January 2027Bhogiபோகி
15 January 2027Thai Pongalதைப்பொங்கல்
15 NovemberSkanda Sashtiகந்த சஷ்டி
16 January 2027Mattu Pongalமாட்டுப் பொங்கல்
Where to see Vaikuntha Ekadasi
In Tamil Nadu
- SrirangamTamil NaduThe Lord, in a robe of gems, passes through the Paramapada Vasal into the hall of a thousand pillars.
- Parthasarathy Temple, TriplicaneTamil NaduChennai's oldest temple; the queue runs through the night.
- Varadaraja Perumal, KanchipuramTamil NaduOne of the three chief Vishnu temples of the Tamil country.
- SrivilliputhurTamil NaduAndal's town, in the middle of her month.
Across India
- TirumalaAndhra PradeshThe Vaikuntha Dwaram round the sanctum is opened for ten days.
- BhadrachalamTelanganaMukkoti Ekadasi, with a float on the Godavari.
- ThiruvananthapuramKeralaSwargavathil Ekadasi at the Padmanabhaswamy temple.