Hare Krishna.

A new feature at my local temple is that the proper times for breaking fasts are not observed. For example, on Rama Navami, althought break fast time was at sunset, the feast was served an hour before sunset. This created the dilemma for me whether to break the fast early, along with the other devotees in attendance, or to maintain the fast until the proper time. On that occasion I decided that since I am by no means the most strictly following devotee in the community, it would be an offense against the other devotees to continue to fast during the feast.

This situation is arising again for Nrsimha Caturdasi, when the proper time for breaking the fast is at dusk. As I understand it, that means the beginning of "nautical twilight," which for us on that day is 9:36 pm. However, the feast is scheduled for the normal time on Sundays at 5:00 p.m.

What is the proper thing to do in these situations?

Hare Krishna.