Also known as: Mukkoti Ekadashi, Swarga Vathil Ekadashi, Vaikuntha Ekadashi · Observed: South India, especially Srirangam, Tirumala and Bhadrachalam
Significance of Vaikunta Ekadashi
Vaikunta Ekadashi is regarded as the most important of the twenty-four Ekadashis of the year in South India. On this day, the gates of Vaikuntha, the abode of Vishnu, are believed to open, and those who fast, keep vigil and worship Vishnu are granted liberation. Vishnu temples open a special northern gateway, the Vaikuntha Dwaram or Paramapada Vasal, through which devotees pass in a symbolic entry into the divine realm. Fasting on this one Ekadashi is said to equal fasting on all others.
In the Telugu states the day is called Mukkoti Ekadashi, since the three crore (thirty million) gods are believed to gather to worship Vishnu on this day.
Legends of the Day
The Padma Purana tells that the demon Mura troubled the gods, and Vishnu fought him before retiring to rest in a cave. When Mura attacked the sleeping Lord, a radiant maiden sprang from Vishnu's body and destroyed him. Pleased, Vishnu named her Ekadashi and granted that those who fasted on her day would be freed from sin. Another tradition relates that Vishnu opened the gates of Vaikuntha for two asuras who, though they had opposed him, sought his grace; they asked that whoever hears their story and sees the Lord emerging through the gate on this day should also attain Vaikuntha. In the Srivaishnava tradition, the saint Nammalvar is said to have attained the Lord's feet, and his entry through the Paramapada gate is re-enacted at Srirangam.
How Vaikunta Ekadashi Is Celebrated
At Srirangam, Vaikunta Ekadashi is the high point of the twenty-day Adhyayana Utsavam, divided into Pagal Pathu (ten days) and Ra Pathu (ten nights), during which the Tamil hymns of the Alvars, the Divya Prabandham, are recited before Lord Ranganatha. Before dawn on the Ekadashi, the Lord passes through the Paramapada Vasal, followed by lakhs of devotees. At Tirumala, the Vaikuntha Dwaram around the sanctum is opened for darshan, and similar celebrations take place at Bhadrachalam, Guruvayur and Vishnu temples across the South.
Devotees observe a complete fast or eat only fruit and milk, chant the Vishnu Sahasranama, read the Bhagavad Gita and keep awake through the night. The fast is broken the next morning on Dwadashi, often with a meal that includes agathi leaves and amla.
How the Date Is Determined
Vaikunta Ekadashi combines solar and lunar reckoning. It is the Ekadashi of the bright fortnight that falls while the Sun is in the sidereal sign of Dhanu, the Tamil month of Margazhi. This is usually Margashirsha Shukla Ekadashi, but in some years it is Pausha Shukla Ekadashi. Because the solar month and the lunar month do not align, a Gregorian year can sometimes contain two Vaikunta Ekadashis or none. The Ekadashi itself is fixed by the standard Vaishnava rule, observing the day when Ekadashi is not touched by Dashami at arunodaya.
Rituals and customs
- Passing through the Vaikuntha Dwaram at dawn
- Complete fast or fruit and milk only
- Night vigil with chanting of the Vishnu Sahasranama
- Recitation of the Divya Prabandham
- Breaking the fast on Dwadashi morning
- Visiting Srirangam, Tirumala or local Vishnu temples