Putrada Ekadashi (Shravana)

Putrada Ekadashi of Shravana comes in the Shukla paksha of Shravana and is the second Putrada of the lunar year, the other falling in Pausha. Vishnu is the presiding deity. Because it falls in the middle of the monsoon, in a month that many people spend in other forms of worship, the day brings a Vaishnava focus into a busy and festive time that includes Raksha Bandhan around the same weeks in some years.

The Bhavishyottara Purana account tells of King Mahijit of Mahishmati, a just ruler who had no son despite years of effort. His subjects and the sage Lomasha are said to have shared a story from the king's own previous life, in which a cow had been denied water, and the sage prescribed this fast to remove the obstacle. The king and queen kept it and a son was born. The tale is passed down as devotion, and the name Putrada, giver of a son, reflects it.

Households observe the Shravana Putrada in the familiar way, with early bathing, worship of Vishnu, and a grain-free diet. Some parents also keep it for the wellbeing of children they already have, and not only for a hoped-for child, so the day has a broad family meaning today. People who are trying to conceive or are pregnant should combine faith with proper medical care and ask their doctor before fasting. The parana follows on the dvadashi morning, and many families share prasad with neighbours.