Indira Ekadashi and Sarva Pitru Amavasya 2026: Pitru Paksha Ends

Indira Ekadashi 2026 falls on Tuesday, 6 October, and Sarva Pitru Amavasya — also called Mahalaya Amavasya — on Saturday, 10 October. Together they are the closing days of Pitru Paksha, the fortnight of the waning Moon in which Hindu families honour their ancestors (pitrs). The very next morning, Sunday 11 October, Sharad Navratri begins. This guide gives the dates, the tithi (lunar day) timings published for 2026, and what each observance is actually for. For local sunrise-based timings, check the day in our daily panchang.

Indira Ekadashi 2026: date and tithi timings

Indira Ekadashi is the Ekadashi (eleventh lunar day) of the Krishna Paksha (waning fortnight) in the month of Ashwin by the purnimanta (full-moon-ending) calendar, which is Bhadrapada by the amanta (new-moon-ending) calendar used in western and southern India. The date is the same either way; only the month name differs.

Published panchang timings for 2026:

• Ekadashi tithi begins: about 2:07 AM on 6 October
• Ekadashi tithi ends: about 12:34 AM on the night of 6–7 October
• Parana (breaking the fast): 7 October, roughly 6:26 AM to 8:49 AM

Parana windows are calculated from local sunrise and from the end of Hari Vasara (the first quarter of Dwadashi), so they shift by city. Treat these as indicative and confirm for your location.

Why Indira Ekadashi is linked to ancestors

Indira Ekadashi is the only Ekadashi that falls inside Pitru Paksha, and its tradition is explicitly about forefathers. The story told with the vrat (fast) is of King Indrasena, who learns from the sage Narada that his late father is not at peace, and is advised to observe this Ekadashi and offer its merit to him. Whatever one makes of the legend, the practice it encodes is clear: fast, worship Vishnu, give food or charity, and dedicate the merit to departed family.

Common observances:

1. A partial or full fast from sunrise on Ekadashi to the parana window on Dwadashi.
2. Avoiding grains and beans, as on every Ekadashi.
3. Offering food to a Brahmin, a cow or someone in need, and lighting a lamp (deep daan).
4. For families whose relative passed on an Ekadashi tithi, the shraddha (ancestral rite) for that person is also performed on this day.

If you are still working out which Pitru Paksha day belongs to which relative, our guide to finding your ancestor's shraddha tithi explains the rule.

Sarva Pitru Amavasya: the day for every ancestor

Sarva Pitru Amavasya, on 10 October 2026, is the new-moon day that ends Pitru Paksha. "Sarva" means all: shraddha done on this day is understood to reach every ancestor, including those whose date of death is unknown, those who died on Chaturdashi or Amavasya, and those whose shraddha was missed earlier in the fortnight. It is also known as Mahalaya Amavasya and, in Bengal, Mahalaya, which marks the invocation of Goddess Durga ahead of the Puja.

Typical practice is tarpan (offering water with sesame seeds), pind daan (rice-ball offerings) where the family follows that rite, feeding crows, cows and dogs as the traditional proxies for the departed, and feeding a Brahmin or someone in need.

Timing matters for shraddha. The rite is traditionally performed in the afternoon period called aparahna, roughly the fourth fifth of daylight, with the kutup and rauhina muhurtas around midday considered especially suitable. If the Amavasya tithi is split across two civil days in your city, priests follow the day on which Amavasya covers the aparahna period. That is why the published date can differ by a day between panchangs, and why it is worth checking your local panchang rather than a national list.

A simple plan for the last five days

For families who want a clear, low-stress routine across the end of the fortnight:

1. 5 October (Dashami): decide who will perform the rites, buy sesame, kusha grass and simple offerings, and note the parana time for your city.
2. 6 October (Indira Ekadashi): fast as your health allows, worship Vishnu, light a lamp in the evening and offer the merit to your ancestors. Perform shraddha here only if a relative passed on an Ekadashi tithi.
3. 7 October (Dwadashi): break the fast within the parana window with simple sattvic food.
4. 8–9 October: continue tithi-specific shraddhas if any fall here for your family; keep meals simple.
5. 10 October (Sarva Pitru Amavasya): tarpan and offerings for all ancestors, feeding animals and a person in need, and a lamp at dusk to see the pitrs off.

None of these steps require expensive rituals. Tradition places sincerity and charity above scale, and the elderly, the unwell, pregnant women and children are not expected to fast.

From Pitru Paksha to Navratri: why the calendar turns

Pitru Paksha is treated as a pause for new beginnings: weddings, house-warmings and big purchases are usually avoided, because the fortnight is dedicated to the dead rather than to the living. The Amavasya on 10 October closes that pause, and Sharad Navratri opens on 11 October with Ghatasthapana (installing the sacred pot). That is why many families schedule auspicious work to begin in Navratri, and why muhurat finders show a burst of options right after the Amavasya. To pick a start time for anything in the weeks ahead, use the muhurat finder.

A calm approach to ancestral remedies

The days around Indira Ekadashi and Sarva Pitru Amavasya are also when people ask about pitru dosh — the chart pattern associated with ancestral unrest. Our guide to pitru dosh remedies explains what the term means and why simple, sincere observance on these days is the traditional first step, ahead of anything costly. If you want to understand what your own chart says about the 9th house of ancestors and dharma, a guided kundli reading is the place to look.