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

Sri Lanka : complete schedule of public and bank holidays, closure of banks and stock exchanges, school vacations, trade fairs, cultural and sporting events, festivals, carnivals, election during the next 3 months

  • Currency: Rupee (LKR)
  • Internet domain: .lk - Telephone code: +94 - International dialing code: 00
    Women are not allowed to purchase alcoholic drinks
  • Weekend: Saturday & Sunday
  • IF YOU NEED TRANSLATION INTO THIS COUNTRY's LANGUAGE(S): English (350 million speakers in 47 countries), Singhalese (16 million speakers), Tamil (55 million speakers) ...
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    Thursday march 7, 2024Ramadan (beginning) - Muslim schoolsSchool holidays
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    Friday march 8, 2024Maha ShivaratriHinduism
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    Sunday march 24, 2024Medin Full Moon Poya DayBuddhism (Theravada)
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    Friday march 29, 2024Good FridayCatholic or protestant
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    Friday april 5, 2024Colombo marathonSports events
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    Wednesday april 10, 2024Spring holiday (beginning)School holidays
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    Thursday april 11, 2024End of Ramadan (may be changed to the nearest day)Muslim, Sufi
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    Friday april 12, 2024Day before Sinhala and Tamil New YearSecular holiday
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    Sunday april 14, 2024Tamil and Sinhala New YearBuddhism (Theravada)
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    Monday april 15, 2024Ramadan (end) - Muslim schoolsSchool holidays
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    Tuesday april 23, 2024Bak Poya/Hanuman JayantiBuddhism (Theravada)
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    Wednesday april 24, 2024Spring holiday (end)School holidays
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    Wednesday may 1, 2024May DaySecular holiday
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    Sunday may 12, 2024Mothers' Daycards/flowers
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    Thursday may 23, 2024Vesak - Buddha Purnima - Visakha BuchaBuddhism (Theravada)
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    Friday may 24, 2024Day following VesakBanks only
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    Friday may 31, 2024Mid-term holiday (beginning)School holidays
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    Monday june 3, 2024Mid-term holiday (end)School holidays
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    Sunday june 16, 2024Fathers' Daycards/flowers
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    Monday june 17, 2024Eid-ul-Adha - Feast of the Sacrifice (may be changed to the nearest day)Muslim, Sufi
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    Thursday june 20, 2024Mid-term holiday (beginning) - Muslim schoolsSchool holidays
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    Friday june 21, 2024Poson PoyaBuddhism (Theravada)
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    Saturday july 20, 2024Esala PeraheraBuddhism (Vajrayana)
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    Friday august 16, 2024Summer holiday (beginning)School holidays
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    Monday august 19, 2024Raksha Bandhan / Nikini Poya (Janai Purnima)Hinduism
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    Monday august 26, 2024Summer holiday (end)School holidays
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    Friday september 13, 2024Mid-term holiday (beginning) - Muslim schoolsSchool holidays
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    Monday september 16, 2024Prophet's Anniversary - Eid-Milad Nnabi (may be changed to the nearest day)Muslim, Sufi
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    Tuesday september 17, 2024Binara Full Moon Poya DayBuddhism (Theravada)
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    Thursday september 19, 2024Mid-term holiday (end) - Muslim schoolsSchool holidays
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    Ramadan (beginning) - Muslim schools

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    Thursday march 7, 2024
    School holidays :

    Maha Shivaratri

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    Friday march 8, 2024
    Hinduism : A Hindu festival in honor of Lord Shiva and his marriage to Goddess Parvati. Ceremonies involving prayers and hymns take place mostly at night.

    Medin Full Moon Poya Day

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    Sunday march 24, 2024
    Buddhism (Theravada) : Commemorates the visit of The Buddha to his home to preach to his father King Suddhodana and other relatives and show them the path to enlightenment and final deliverance.

    Good Friday

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    Friday march 29, 2024
    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.

    Colombo marathon

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    Friday april 5, 2024
    Sports events : Https://colombomarathon.com/ 2024 edition confirmed

    Spring holiday (beginning)

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    Wednesday april 10, 2024
    School holidays :

    End of Ramadan (may be changed to the nearest day)

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    Thursday april 11, 2024
    Muslim, Sufi :

    Day before Sinhala and Tamil New Year

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    Friday april 12, 2024
    Secular holiday :

    Tamil and Sinhala New Year

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    Sunday april 14, 2024
    Buddhism (Theravada) : Sri Lankans and Tamilnadu people celebrate their national new year's day (Puththandu in Tamil and Aluth Avurudhu in Sinhala). The specific time of the New Year is set by astrologers on the 13th or 14th. The sun moving from the house of Pisces to the house of Aries signals the dawn of the new year.

    Ramadan (end) - Muslim schools

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    Monday april 15, 2024
    School holidays :

    Bak Poya/Hanuman Jayanti

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    Tuesday april 23, 2024
    Buddhism (Theravada) : Hanumanji is said to be Chiranjivi (immortal) and is present in the world even today. He is the link between the devotees and God, for, as instructed by the Lord, he serves, protects and inspires the servants of God. Saints like Tulasidas had the darshan (divine vision) of the Lord through the grace of Hanumanji.

    Spring holiday (end)

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    Wednesday april 24, 2024
    School holidays :

    May Day

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    Wednesday may 1, 2024
    Secular holiday : Chicago, Saturday May 1st, 1886: 350,000 workers go on strike to call for an 8-hour working day. Industries are paralyzed nationwide. On Monday, as demonstrations go on, the police open fire. On Tuesday, Chicago is again on strike. Following a bomb launched against them, the police shoot again. 12 dead, of which 7 policemen. 8 anarchists will be condemned and executed. In 1889, the Socialist International Movement met in Paris and declared this day international workers' day . The Soviets will follow suit, just as the Nazis. In France, under the Vichy regime (1940-1944), the celebration is renamed Labour Day .

    Mothers' Day

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    Sunday may 12, 2024
    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

    Vesak - Buddha Purnima - Visakha Bucha

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    Thursday may 23, 2024
    Buddhism (Theravada) : Magha Puja or Sangha celebration. This day falls on the full moon of the third month. It commemorates the main event in Buddha's life, after His first retreated from the rain (Vassa). The anniversary of Buddah's birthday in the Mahayana tradition; the commemoration of Buddah's birth, enlightenment, and death, celebrated on the day of the full moon of the 6th month in the Theravada tradition.

    Day following Vesak

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    Friday may 24, 2024
    Banks only :

    Mid-term holiday (beginning)

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    Friday may 31, 2024
    School holidays :

    Mid-term holiday (end)

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    Monday june 3, 2024
    School holidays :

    Fathers' Day

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    Sunday june 16, 2024
    cards/flowers :

    Eid-ul-Adha - Feast of the Sacrifice (may be changed to the nearest day)

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    Monday june 17, 2024
    Muslim, Sufi :

    Mid-term holiday (beginning) - Muslim schools

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    Thursday june 20, 2024
    School holidays :

    Poson Poya

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    Friday june 21, 2024
    Buddhism (Theravada) : Commemorates the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka by Arahat Maha Mahinda (son of King Asoka of India) at Mihintale in the third century B.C. Ven Mahinda established the Dispensation of The Buddha (Buddhasasana) in Sri Lanka.

    Esala Perahera

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    Saturday july 20, 2024
    Buddhism (Vajrayana) : On the Esala full moon, the Kandy Esala Perahera takes place. The most important and spectacular festival in SL, it is the climax of 10 days and nights of increasing frenetic activity in Kandy. Thousands of dancers, drummers, and temple chieftains take part in the parade that also features 50 or more magnificently decorated elephants honouring the Sacred Tooth relic of the Golden Temple. Smaller peraheras are held at this time at other locations in the island.

    Summer holiday (beginning)

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    Friday august 16, 2024
    School holidays : Tamil & Sinhala schools

    Raksha Bandhan / Nikini Poya (Janai Purnima)

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    Monday august 19, 2024
    Hinduism : The annual festival of Raksha Bandhan, which is meant to commemorate the abiding ties between siblings of opposite sex, usually takes place in late August, and is marked by a very simple ceremony in which a woman ties a rakhi — which may be a colorful thread, a simple bracelet, or a decorative string — around the wrist of her brother(s). The word raksha signifies protection, and bandhan is an association signifying an enduring sort of bond; and so, when a woman ties a rakhi around the waist of her brother, she signifies her loving attachment to him. He, likewise, recognizes the special bonds between them, and by extending his wrist forward, he in fact extends the hand of his protection over her.

    Summer holiday (end)

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    Monday august 26, 2024
    School holidays :

    Mid-term holiday (beginning) - Muslim schools

    -
    Friday september 13, 2024
    School holidays :

    Prophet's Anniversary - Eid-Milad Nnabi (may be changed to the nearest day)

    -
    Monday september 16, 2024
    Muslim, Sufi :

    Binara Full Moon Poya Day

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    Tuesday september 17, 2024
    Buddhism (Theravada) : Even before the birth of Buddhism, Asian ascetics in the ancient times when there were no calendars, made it a practice on full moon days to cease worldly pursuits and engage themselves in religious activities. The Buddha adopted this practice and from this developed the preaching of the Buddhist texts and commentaries (bana) in monasteries and temples on full moon Poya days. And when the Venerable Arahat Mahinda Thero introduced Buddhism to this country in 247 BC he also introduced the Poya tradition.

    Mid-term holiday (end) - Muslim schools

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    Thursday september 19, 2024
    School holidays :