Can We Marry on Ekadashi?

Yes, a wedding can be held on Ekadashi if your priest finds a muhurat that day. The panchang does not treat Ekadashi tithi as closed for marriage. Drik Panchang's 2027 list for New Delhi has marriage muhurats on Utpanna Ekadashi (24 November) and Mokshada Ekadashi (9 December). Many families still avoid the day because it is a fast day.

So the real answer has two parts. The muhurat may allow it. Your family's fasting custom may not. Ask both.

What the Panchang Rules Say

Ekadashi is the 11th tithi (lunar day) of each half of the lunar month, so it comes twice a month. It is a day for fasting and worship of Vishnu.

For a vivah muhurat, priests look at the tithi, nakshatra, yoga, the bride's and groom's moon signs and the planets. Drik Panchang's marriage page says weddings are not done while Venus (Shukra) or Jupiter (Guru) is set, and that the days of the leap month (Adhik Maas) are dropped. It does not list Ekadashi among the excluded tithis.

Drik Panchang's own 2027 list for New Delhi shows muhurats on many different tithis, Ekadashi among them. Rules still differ between regions and between priests. Some family priests keep their own list of tithis they will not use, so your priest has the final word.

2027 Ekadashi Dates That Have Marriage Muhurats

We matched Drik Panchang's 2027 marriage muhurat list for New Delhi against its Ekadashi list for the same city. These muhurats fall fully or partly on Ekadashi tithi.

Look at the first row. Seven minutes. The 18 January window is only seven minutes long. A muhurat that short works for the main ritual only, with everything else timed around it.

These times are for New Delhi. A family in Chennai, Ahmedabad or Kolkata will see different times, and sometimes a different date, because the tithi and sunrise change with the city. Check Drik Panchang's marriage muhurat list for your own city and confirm with your priest.

Why Many Families Avoid an Ekadashi Wedding

The reasons are practical as much as religious.

1. Many elders fast on Ekadashi. In Vaishnava households, the fast means no rice or grains, and some keep a nirjala fast without even water.
2. A wedding feast is built around rice, puri and sweets made with flour. A fasting grandmother cannot eat at her own grandson's wedding.
3. The priest himself may be fasting and may prefer not to conduct a long ceremony that day.
4. Some regional and family traditions simply do not hold weddings on Ekadashi, whatever the panchang says.

Families who follow ISKCON or other strict Vaishnava customs usually avoid the date. Families who do not fast on Ekadashi often do not mind at all.

The Dev Uthani Exception

Dev Uthani Ekadashi (also called Devutthana or Prabodhini Ekadashi) is the one Ekadashi tied to weddings. It marks the end of Chaturmas, the four months when Hindu weddings pause in most of North and Central India. Many families treat it as an abujh muhurat, a day good enough that no separate muhurat is needed.

Even so, Drik Panchang does not always list a window on the Ekadashi tithi itself.

Tulsi Vivah, the ritual wedding of the tulsi plant to Vishnu, falls on the same day or the next. Our Dev Uthani Ekadashi 2026 page covers both years in detail.

Devshayani Ekadashi Closes the Season

Devshayani Ekadashi, in Ashadha, is the opposite. It starts Chaturmas, and most North Indian families hold no weddings from that day until Dev Uthani. In 2027 Devshayani Ekadashi is on Wednesday, 14 July, and Drik Panchang's last marriage muhurat before the break is on 12 July for New Delhi.

Our page on whether you can marry in Chaturmas explains the four months and the regional differences.

If Your Muhurat Falls on Ekadashi

Ask the elders first. Then the priest. If the grandparents and the priest are fine with it, go ahead. If not, ask the priest for the nearest date without Ekadashi.

If you keep the date, plan for the fasting guests:

• Keep a separate phalahari counter with sabudana khichdi, kuttu or singhara puri, fruit, dry fruit and milk sweets.
• Tell the caterer which elders are fasting so their plates are served first.
• Ask the priest when he would like to eat, and keep a fasting meal ready for him.
• If the bride's parents fast until the kanyadaan, which many do on any wedding day, keep water and fruit ready for right after.

Also look at what else is on your calendar. Our list of inauspicious time for marriage covers Kharmas, Holashtak and the months with no dates at all.