Gita Jayanti 2026 Date
Gita Jayanti 2026 is on Sunday, 20 December 2026, on Ekadasi tithi.
Dates are for India (IST). Tithi timings for your city are on the Gita Jayanti page.
About Gita Jayanti
Gita Jayanti falls on Mokshada Ekadashi — the Shukla Ekadashi of Margashirsha — and traditional reckoning makes it the anniversary of Krishna's discourse to Arjuna in 3138 BCE. The day pairs Gita recitation with a fast whose merit can be offered to deceased parents.
The Ekadashi has its own backstory in the Brahmanda Purana. King Vaikhanasa saw his father suffering in hell in a dream, and the sage Parvata told him to fast on this day and dedicate the merit to his father — who was then released from hell. That is why Mokshada Ekadashi is unusual among Ekadashis: the merit is meant to be transferred to ancestors, not kept for oneself. The deity worshipped is Damodara — the form of Krishna bound at the waist by Yashoda's rope — offered lamps, incense and naivedya. Kerala calls the same tithi Swargavathil Ekadashi, the "door of heaven." Recitation of all 18 chapters and 700 verses of the Gita, often completed in one sitting, is the day's signature practice.
