Utpanna Ekadashi

Utpanna Ekadashi falls in the Krishna paksha of Margashirsha, and many households treat it as the true starting point of the Ekadashi calendar. The word utpanna means manifested or born, and the day is read as the birthday of the goddess Ekadashi herself. Because the whole cycle of twenty-four observances is explained through her story, people who want to begin the practice often choose this day for their first fast.

In the Padma Purana account, as told by Krishna to Arjuna, the demon Mura attacked Vishnu while he rested. A radiant woman emerged from the god's own body and defeated Mura, and Vishnu named her Ekadashi and granted that those who keep the eleventh tithi in her name would be freed from sin. Her presiding deity here is Vishnu, manifested as Ekadashi-devi, so worship usually centres on both figures together.

The day typically begins with a bath before sunrise, a resolve to keep the vrata, and worship of Vishnu with tulsi leaves and a lamp. Grains and beans are avoided, and many families keep a night of bhajans or reading. The fast is traditionally broken on the next morning, the dvadashi, within the window given in a panchang. In some homes a first-timer is advised to start with fruit and milk rather than a strict fast, and anyone with a medical condition should ask a doctor before fasting.