Devutthana Ekadashi (Prabodhini Ekadashi)

It is believed that on Devshayani Ekadashi of the Ashadha month, Lord Vishnu retires to slumber in the Kshirsagar (ocean of milk), and after four months, awakens from his yogic sleep on this very Devutthana Ekadashi of the Kartik month. This four-month period is called 'Chaturmas', during which auspicious ceremonies like weddings are considered inauspicious.

With Lord Vishnu's awakening, Chaturmas is considered to end, and from this day, all auspicious ceremonies like weddings, housewarmings, and tonsure rites, considered inauspicious during Chaturmas, resume once more. This is why it is also called Prabodhini Ekadashi, meaning 'the Ekadashi that awakens'.

This festival falls exactly one day before Tulsi Vivah, and is also regarded as the day the preparations for the Tulsi-Shaligram wedding begin. There is a special tradition of waking Lord Vishnu on this day by blowing a conch and ringing a bell.

Devotees bathe in the morning and observe a fast on this day. In the evening, footprint impressions of Lord Vishnu are drawn with red ochre and rice flour in the home's courtyard, depicted as entering from outside into the courtyard, as though Lord Vishnu himself is arriving at the home.

Lord Vishnu is woken from his slumber by blowing a conch, ringing a bell, and singing special awakening songs. A sugarcane canopy is decorated near the Tulsi plant and the Shaligram is placed there, regarded as the preparation for the Tulsi Vivah that follows the next day.

From this day, the season for wedding muhurats, housewarmings, and other auspicious ceremonies is considered to begin, so many families start wedding-related preparations from this very day. The fast is broken the next day, on Dwadashi, within the scripturally prescribed Parana muhurat.