Amalaki Ekadashi Vrat 2020.

Amalaki Ekadashi comes during the  Shukl Paksh of Phalgun maas . its on the 6th of March 2020 Friday .It is a celebration of the amla tree , also known as Kunj ekadashi.

Lord Vishnu, for whom ekadashis are sacred, is believed to reside in the tree. The amla tree is ritually worshiped on this day to get the grace of the deity. The day marks the beginning of the main celebrations of the festival of Holi, festival of colours.

According to the legend narrated for the occasion, King Chitrasena and his subjects observed the vrata of Amalaki Ekadashi. During one of his hunting trips, Chitrasena lost his way in the forest and was captured by the wild tribals who attacked him with weapons. Though he remained physically unharmed, the king fell unconscious as more tribals surrounded him. A divine power in the form of a light emerged from his body and destroyed his attackers and then vanished. On regaining consciousness, Chitrasena was stunned to see all the attackers killed. A divine voice / Akasavani announced that this was due to the observance of the Ekadashi vrata. Following this incident, the vrata became popular in the kingdom, which led to peace and harmony.

A variant of this tale is found in the Brahmanda Purana as narrated by the sage Vasishtha. King Chaitraratha of Vaidisha and his subjects were blessed with riches due to the worship of Vishnu. Once, on Amalaki Ekadashi, Chaitraratha and his subjects worshiped Vishnu and the amla tree near the Vishnu temple, on a riverbank. He also worshiped Parashurama, a sage-avatar of Vishnu. The devotees fasted and remained awake the whole night, singing bhajans in praise of Vishnu. A hungry hunter joined the group and followed the Amalaki Ekadashi vrata. As a result, after his death he was reborn as King Vasurath. Vasurath is described as undergoing a similar experience to King Chitrasena from the earlier tale. The main difference is that Vasurath does not perform the vrat in this life but in his previous life. The moral of the tale is told to be that the performance of Amalaki Ekadashi vrat, without any desire and just pure devotion, results in the grace of Vishnu, in this and next lives.

The observer of the vrat should have a ritual bath in the morning. The devotee or priests ceremonially bathe and water the tree and then worship it with a puja ritual. Devotees fast on this day and gifts are offered to Brahmin priests praying for prosperity, wealth and health.Devotees also listen to the vrat katha of Amalaka Ekadashi.Offering of food and charity is prescribed on this day; the virtue is equated to the performance of a vajapeya, a somayajna sacrifice.

Though the festival of Holi begins on Vasant Panchami, it is on Amalaki Ekadashi that the main festivities begin. The day marks the beginning of the climax of Holi, culminating on four lunar days later on the full moon. From this day, people start playing with colours.