Vaikuṇṭha Ekādaśī

Vaikuṇṭha Ekādaśī is the most sacred of all Ekādaśī days — the eleventh day of the bright fortnight of the month of Mārgaśīrṣa (called Mārgazhi in Tamil), which falls in December–January. Tradition holds that on this day the gates of Vaikuṇṭha — Viṣṇu's celestial abode — stand open, and any soul that departs on this day attains liberation directly. The fast observed on this day is therefore not merely devotional but soteriologically transformative.

The day is celebrated with greatest intensity in the great Vaiṣṇava temples of South India — especially Śrī Raṅganāthasvāmi temple at Śrī Raṅgam (Tamil Nadu), where the Paramapada Vāṣal ('Gate of Heaven') is opened only on this day and pilgrims queue through the night to pass through it. The temple's Mārgazhi festival — the month-long celebration preceding Vaikuṇṭha Ekādaśī — includes the recitation of the Tiruppāvai (Āṇḍāḷ's 30 hymns) and the Tiruvaympoli (Nammāḷvār's hymns) in their entirety.

In North India, the day is observed as Mokṣadā Ekādaśī — 'the Ekādaśī that grants liberation' — with fasting, vigil, and the recitation of the Bhagavad Gītā, which was spoken by Kṛṣṇa to Arjuna on this very day according to tradition. The Gītā Jayantī (birthday of the Bhagavad Gītā) is thus celebrated on this day.

The Padma Purāṇa narrates that a demon named Muran terrorized the gods, and Viṣṇu fought him for thousands of years. When Viṣṇu retired to a cave to rest, Muran attempted to kill him. A divine power emerged from Viṣṇu's body as a woman and slew Muran. Viṣṇu named her Ekādaśī and granted her the boon that those who fast on the Ekādaśī tithi shall be freed from sin and attain liberation. This origin myth frames Ekādaśī as a direct expression of Viṣṇu's salvific power.

A second narrative holds that on the Ekādaśī day of Mārgaśīrṣa specifically, Viṣṇu opens the doors of his eternal abode and personally escorts devotees who fast and perform vigil on this day into Vaikuṇṭha. The image of the deity at Śrī Raṅgam is carried in procession through the Paramapada Vāṣal, symbolically leading devotees through the gateway to liberation.

Vaikuṇṭha Ekādaśī holds soteriological significance that distinguishes it from all other Ekādaśīs. While all Ekādaśī fasts are believed to purify accumulated karma, Vaikuṇṭha Ekādaśī is specifically associated with mokṣa — final liberation from the cycle of rebirth. The Śrī Vaishnava tradition considers it the most important day in the entire religious calendar, surpassing even Kṛṣṇa Janmāṣṭamī in significance for devoted practitioners.

The practice of the overnight vigil (jāgaraṇa) on this night — staying awake through the night singing hymns and performing pūjā — is understood as a rehearsal for death: the devotee who keeps this vigil with full awareness is practicing the kind of conscious transition that, at death, will carry the soul directly to Vaikuṇṭha.

The core observance is the Ekādaśī fast — complete abstinence from grains and beans, often extended to a waterless fast by advanced practitioners. The fast begins at sunrise on Ekādaśī and is broken on the following Dvādaśī day. The night of Ekādaśī is spent in vigil — singing hymns (especially the Divya Prabandham), performing pūjā, and reciting the Bhagavad Gītā.

At Śrī Raṅgam and other major Vaiṣṇava temples, the day includes a grand procession of the temple deity through the Paramapada Vāṣal at dawn. Pilgrims queue through the night to pass through this gate in the wake of the deity's procession — the symbolic entry into Vaikuṇṭha. The Tiruppāvai and Tiruvaympoli recitation continues through the month of Mārgazhi in Tamil temples.

In Tamil Nadu, Vaikuṇṭha Ekādaśī is the climax of the month-long Mārgazhi festival and is the single most important day in the Śrī Vaishnava calendar. The Paramapada Vāṣal opening at Śrī Raṅgam draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. In Karnataka and Andhra, the festival is observed with comparable intensity at Vaiṣṇava temples. In North India, the same day is celebrated as Mokṣadā Ekādaśī / Gītā Jayantī, with emphasis on Bhagavad Gītā recitation and distribution. In Odisha, the day has connections to the Jagannātha tradition at Puri.