India : public and bank holidays, closure of banks, stock exchanges, school vacations

School holidays : Calendars gazetted by the respective Departments of Education
Each state carries its own specific set of holidays, please scroll to the concerned state


Schools have been shut 25 weeks due to Covid epidemics


Summer school holidays vary for Indian schools due to different weather conditions in different parts of the country at the same time.
In northern India, schools end in mid-May and start in the first week of July, except in the Kashmir Valley, where the summer holidays last 10 days. Instead, schools in the Kashmir region are closed from mid-December (late December) to late February (early March) as a winter holiday.
Also in central India, the summer holidays start in mid-April (late April) and end in mid-June (end of June).
In southern India, schools end in the last week of March (early April) and start again in early June

Dates to be double checked as calendars are being affected by the Covid epidemics
Please note that authorities may take last-minute decisions; please double-check if this information is vital to you

Special Events :

Special Events :

Special Events :

Secular holiday : It was the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress at midnight of December 31, 1929 - January 1, 1930, that the Tri-Colour Flag was unfurled by the nationalists and a pledge taken that every year on January 26, the Independence Day would be celebrated and that the people would unceasingly strive for the establishment of a Sovereign Democratic Republic of India. The professed pledge was successfully redeemed on January 26, 1950, when the Constitution of India framed by the Constituent Assembly of India came into force, although the Independence from the British rule was achieved on August 15, 1947. It is because of this that August 15 is celebrated as Independence Day, while January 26 as Republic Day.

Banks only :

Banks only :

Banks only :

Banks only :

cards/flowers : Introduced by Pope Gelasus in 498, perhaps in response to a local Roman tradition of lovers writing their names on an urn in February

Special Events :

Special Events :

Hinduism : The religious meaning of this celebration is the burning of any perversion. It marks the victory of good over evil.

Hinduism : Festivities take place in the Rama temples. recitation of the Ramayana (Perayana), which can last up to 9 days. Classical music and sacred chants.

Banks only :

cards/flowers : As the story goes, in 1564, France was one of the first nations to make January 1 officially New Year's Day, instead of the last week of March which was previously observed. In 1582, the Pope followed suit. Those who went on celebrating April 1st were mocked. As the zodiacal sign was the fish, The French placed dead fish on the backs of one another. Traditions vary from country to country.

Jainism : Jain festival honoring Lord Mahavira on the founder's birthday.

Catholic or protestant : The First Council of Nicaea (a gathering of bishops in the early days of Christianity) wanted to find a day to commemorate the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. This commemoration had to be linked to Jewish holiday traditions, since the last supper of Christ was believed to be a Jewish Passover meal. But the Jewish calendar is based on lunar and solar cycles, so the Easter celebration had to follow the same calendar.

Special Events :

Special Events :

Special Events :

Muslim, Sufi : Ends the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. There were 30 days of strict fasting from sunup to sundown in honor of the first revelation to the Prophet Mohammed.

School holidays : Kendriya Vidyalayas schools in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jabalpur, Mumbai, Raipur, Bhubaneswar and Bhopal

Special Events :

Banks only :

Special Events :

Buddhism (Theravada) :

School holidays : Kendriya Vidyalayas schools in Agra, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Delhi, Dehradun, Gurugram, Jaipur, Jammu and Kashmir, Ranchi, Silchar, Tinsukia and Varanasi

cards/flowers : Mother’s day has evolved in many countries in different ways. This is because mother’s day has different origins in different countries and therefore occurs on different days in the year. One school of thought claims that this day emerged from the custom of mother worship in ancient Greece. Mother worship which kept a festival to Cybele, a great mother of gods, and Rhea, the wife of Cronus, was held on March 15 to March 18 around Asia Minor. They insist that this custom spread around the world. Mothering Sunday is the celebration of motherhood in the United Kingdom. It is also known as Mid-lent Sunday, Rose Sunday and Laetare Sunday. It originally comes from the Victorian practice of allowing servants to return home to visit their mothers on this day. In the United States, Julia Ward Howe (May 27, 1819 - October 17, 1910) was a prominent American abolitionist, social activist, and poet. Howe’s Battle Hymn of the Republic was first published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862 and quickly became one of the most popular songs for the Union during the American Civil War. After the war she focused her activities on the causes of Pacifism and women’s suffrage. In 1870 she was the first to proclaim Mother’s Day, with her Mother’s Day Proclamation. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson approved Mother’s Day in 1914

cards/flowers :

School holidays : Kendriya Vidyalayas schools in Agra, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Delhi, Dehradun, Gurugram, Jaipur, Jammu and Kashmir, Ranchi, Silchar, Tinsukia and Varanasi

Special Events :

Muslim, Sufi :

cards/flowers :

Banks only :

cards/flowers :

Muslim, Sufi : The first day of the year is observed on the first day of Muharram, the first month in the Islamic calendar. The first Islamic year beginning in 610 AD during which the emigration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina, known as the Hijra [Wikipedia]