Here is a useful tool to help plan your work schedules, meetings and travel to India. (See “Navigating India’s Holidays” for a more in-depth treatment, with many useful tips.) See below for "Print" and "Email" instructions. These are the principal Indian public holidays for 2015. Not all of them are observed in every state, or in every company. Also, the names differ a bit from state to state. Those in bold and marked "(C)" are the 14 public holidays observed universally throughout India.
If you have any questions, send them to info@indiapractice.com.
DATE | HOLIDAY | TYPE |
Jan 1 | New Year's Day | Secular |
Jan 4 | Id-e-Milad / Milad-un-Nabhi (Prophet Muhammad's Birthday) | Muslim (C) |
Jan 14 | Makara Sankranthi (Sun entering Capricorn) - celebrated as Pongal winter harvest festival in Tamilnadu | Hindu |
Jan 26 | REPUBLIC DAY (Celebrates the adoption of India's Constitution in 1950) | NATIONAL (C) |
Feb 17 | Mahashivaratri (Celebration of Lord Shiva) | Hindu |
Mar 6 | Holi (Festival of Colors) - especially important in North India | Hindu |
Mar 21 | Ugadi / Gudi Padwa / Chaitra Purnima (Hindu Lunar New Year) - especially in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra | Hindu |
March 28 | Ram Nawami (Birth of Lord Ram) | Hindu |
Apr 2 | Mahavir Jayanti (Birth of Lord Mahavira) | Jain (C) |
Apr 3 | Good Friday (Crucifixion of Lord Jesus Christ) | Christian (C) |
Apr 14 | Birthday of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar (Architect of India's Constitution and leader of the Dalits) | Secular |
May 1 | May Day (Labor Day) |
Secular |
May 4 | Buddha Purnima (Birth of Lord Bddha) | Buddhist (C) |
Jul 18 | Id-ul-Fitr / Ramzan Id (End of Ramadan Fast) | Muslim (C) |
Aug 15 | INDEPENDENCE DAY (Celebrates India's independence from Great Britain in 1947) | NATIONAL (C) |
Aug 17 | Ganesh Chaturthi (Birth of Lord Ganesh) - especially popular in Maharashtra | Hindu |
Aug 18 |
Parsee New Year (Celebrated in Mumbai and cities of Gujarat) | Zoroastrian |
Aug 29 | Raksha Bandhan (Brother-Sister Holiday) | Hindu |
Sept 5 | Shrikrishna Jayanti / Janmashtami (Birth of Lord Krishna) | Hindu |
Sept 25 | Id-ul-Zuha / Bakrid (Feast of Sacrifice) | Muslim |
Oct 2 | MAHATMA GANDHI'S BIRTHDAY (Mahatma Gandhi is considered "The Father of the Nation") | NATIONAL (C) |
Oct 22 | Dussehra / Vijaya Dashami (Lord Ram's Triump and Celebration of the Goddess Durga) - one of the main all-India Hindu festivals | Hindu (C) |
Oct 24 | Muharram / Ashura (Martyrdom of Imam Hussain) - especially important to Shia Muslims | Muslim |
Nov 11 | Diwali / Deepawali (Festival of LIghts) - the main and most popular all-India Hindu festival |
Hindu (C) |
Nov 25 |
Guru Nanak Jayanti (Birth of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism) | Sikh (C) |
Dec 25 |
Christmas (Birth of Lord Jesus Christ) | Christian (C) |
For more information or to schedule a consultation,
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