12th lunar day dedicated to Damodara — the form of Krishna who was lovingly bound by His mother Yashoda.

Damodara Dwadashi falls on the Shukla Paksha Dwadashi of Shravan, immediately after Shravana Putrada Ekadashi, and is the day on which that fast is concluded. It honours Vishnu as Damodara — the one whose waist was bound with a rope. The name comes from the episode in which Yashoda tied the infant Krishna to a grinding mortar; he dragged it between twin arjuna trees, uprooting them and freeing two Gandharvas from a curse. The rope left its mark, and Damodara means literally rope around the belly. Devotees who kept the Ekadashi break their fast on this day with the parana, after worshipping Vishnu with tulsi and panchamrit. Charity of grain, cloth and food to Brahmins is customary before eating.

This is not a fasting day but the concluding day of the Ekadashi vrat. Those who observed the Ekadashi break their fast here. Charity is performed before taking the meal.