Vishnu
Devutthana Ekadashi
Vishnu wakes — Chaturmas ends, and the wedding season opens with the conch.
Tithi: Kartik Shukla Ekadashi
In the simplest words
Vishnu wakes up! Four months of sleep end, chaturmas closes, and the wedding season opens with Tulsi's own marriage the next day.
The story & purpose
Four months after Devshayani, Vishnu stirs from yoga-nidra — Prabodhini, the awakening. Households 'wake' him at dusk with conch and bell, singing 'utho deva, baitho deva' around a sugarcane mandap chalked with his feet walking in from the door.
With the Lord awake, all paused shubh karya resume: this evening itself is an abujha muhurta, and weddings cascade from tonight to Holi. Tulsi Vivah follows on the dwadashi — the awakened Vishnu's first act is a marriage.
What is done
Waking the Lord
At pradosh: conch, bell, and the utho-deva songs; Vishnu's feet drawn from threshold to altar.
Ekadashi vrat
The fast per capacity, with tulsi-tinted offerings of the season — singhara, sugarcane, ber.
Chaturmas closure
The four-month sankalpa completed and offered; its discipline thanked, not just dropped.
Best timings
The waking at pradosh kala; vrat parana next morning.
Exact muhurat varies by city and tradition — for the precise hour, consult a local panchang for your location.
Worth knowing
Pandharpur holds its Kartiki yatra today — the Wari's winter twin.
So many weddings begin tonight that it is north India's single busiest marriage date most years.
Many families hold Tulsi Vivah on this very evening rather than the dwadashi — both days are honoured.
Mantras of this festival
ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Dvadashakshara — the twelve-syllable mantra
Begin jaap →शान्ताकारं भुजगशयनं पद्मनाभं सुरेशं विश्वाधारं गगनसदृशं मेघवर्णं शुभाङ्गम् । लक्ष्मीकान्तं कमलनयनं योगिभिर्ध्यानगम्यं वन्दे विष्णुं भवभयहरं सर्वलोकैकनाथम् ॥
Shantakaram — Vishnu dhyana
Begin jaap →अच्युतानन्तगोविन्द नामोच्चारणभेषजात् । नश्यन्ति सकला रोगाः सत्यं सत्यं वदाम्यहम् ॥
Achyuta Ananta Govinda
Begin jaap →