India > Festivals > Holiday List 2021

Public Holidays and Festivals in India 2021

There are many festivals and special events in India, but only three of them are recognized as national holidays. The country celebrates Republic Day on 26 January, Independence Day on 15 August, and Gandhi Jayanti on 02 October every year as National Holiday.

01
Republic Day
January 26
Tuesday
02
Independence Day
August 15
Sunday
03
Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday
October 02
Saturday

Gazetted Holidays list of India, 2021

In India, General Holidays or Gazetted Holidays usually mean as Government Holidays or Public Holidays or Compulsory holidays. These holidays are usually observed everywhere like banks, government sectors, public sector and private sector, schools, etc in the country. There are 17 compulsory holidays including the above three national holidays. These holidays are provided by the central Government of India and these are common for all states and union territories of the nation.

Central Government Holidays or Gazetted Holiday calendar 2021

Sl. No.
Date ( ,2021)
Day
Occasion
01
January 26
Tuesday
Republic Day
02
April 02
Friday
Good Friday
03
April 25
Sunday
Mahavir Jayanti
04
May 13
Thursday
Ramadan / Eid-al Fitr$
05
July 21
Wednesday
Id-ul-Zuha / Bakr-Id$
06
May 26
Wednesday
Buddha Purnima
07
August 15
Sunday
Independence Day
08
August 19
Thursday
Muharram$
09
October 02
Saturday
Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday
10
October 15
Friday
Dussehra (Vijaya Dashami)
11
October 19
Tuesday
Milad-Un-Nabi or Id-E-Milad$
(Birthday of Prophet Muhammad)
12
November 4
Thursday
Diwali (Deepavali)
13
November 19
Friday
Guru Nanak Jayanti
14
December 25
Saturday
Christmas Day

$The date may be vary based on the lunar position.
Source: https://www.india.gov.in/calendar/

All of the above 14 holidays are observed as the compulsory holidays for all central government employees throughout India. In addition, three (3) more holidays shall be decided from the list below (Additional Compulsory Holiday List 2021) by the Central Government Employees Welfare Coordination Committee of the concerned state. And the 17 compulsory holidays must be the same for all Central Government Offices for the concerned State.

Additional Compulsory Holiday List 2021

Sl. No.
Date ( ,2021)
Day
Occasion
Concerned State
01
January 14
Thursday
Makar Sankranti
GJ, KA, SK & TG
02
January 14
Thursday
Pongal
AP, AR, PY & TN
03
February 16
Tuesday
Basant Panchami / Sri Panchami
HR, OR, PB, TR & WB
04
March 11
Thursday
Maha Shivaratri
National except AN, AR, AS, BR, DN, GA, LD, MP, MN, ML, MZ, NL, PY, SK, TN & WB
05
March 29
Monday
Holi
National except for AP, AS, JK, KA, KL, LD, MN, PY, TN, UP, UK & WB
06
April 13
Tuesday
Chaitra Sukladi/Ugadi (Gudi Padwa)*
AP, GA, GJ, JK, KA, MP, RJ, SK & TG
07
April 13
Tuesday
1st Navratri*
JK
08
April 13
Tuesday
Cheti Chand*
UP
09
April 14
Wednesday
Vaisakhi / Baisakhi / Vishu*
HR, JK, KL, OR, PB, TN & WB
10
April 14
Wednesday
Mesadi/Bahag Bihu*
AR, AS & TR
11
April 21
Wednesday
Ram Navami
National except for AR, AS, DN, GA, JK, JH, KA, KL, LD, MN, ML, MZ, NL, PY, TN, TR & WB
12
July 12
Monday
Rath Yatra
OR
13
August 21
Saturday
Onam or Thiru Onam Day
KL
14
August 30
Monday
Janmashtami (Vaishnavi)
National except for AR, AS, CH, DN, GA, KA, KL, LD, MH, ML, MZ, PY & WB
15
September 10
Friday
Vinayaka Chaturthi/Ganesh Chaturthi
AP, DD, DN, GA, GJ, KA, MH, OR, PY, TG & TN
16a
October 12
Wednesday
An extra day for Dussehra (Maha Saptami)
OR, SK, TR & WB
16b
October 13
Thursday
An extra day for Dussehra (Maha Ashtami)
AP, JH, MN, OR, RJ, SK, TG, TR & WB
16c
October 14
Friday
An extra day for Dussehra (Vijay Dashmi)
AS, BR, JH, KA, KL, ML, NL, OR, PY, SK, TN, TR, UP & WB
17
October 24
Sunday
Karaka Chaturthi (Karva Chouth)*
--
18
November 10
Wednesday
Chhath Puja*
BR & JH

*Only one holiday supposed to decide on the concerned state.
Source: https://www.india.gov.in/calendar/

Restricted Holiday Calendar of India, 2021

India is a country of 28 states and 8 union territories where a different type of religious followers (Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs, Jain and others) lives together with a vast cultural heritage. They celebrate different types of festivals and cultural activities throughout the years, and which are varies from state to state.

Except this 17 compulsory central holidays (Gazetted Holidays), a state or Union Territory can get 2 or 3 more (sometimes up to 6 to 9) additional holidays. Basically, these extra holidays depend on the importance and priority of a festival by the state people. These optional holiday lists are selected by the Central Government Employees Welfare Coordination Committee and this list is usually called as Restricted Holidays.

Restricted Holidays or Optional Holiday calendar for 2021

Sl. No.
Date ( ,2021)
Day
Occasion
Concerned State
01
January 01
Wednesday
New Year's Day
AR, ML, MN, MZ, NL, RJ, SK & TN
02
January 13
Wednesday
Lohri
PB
03
January 14
Thursday
Pongal
AP, AR, PY & TN
04
January 14
Thursday
Makar Sankranti
GJ, KA, SK & TG
05
January 20
Wednesday
Guru Gobind Singh's Birthday
HR & RJ
06
February 16
Tuesday
Basant Panchami/Sri Panchami
HR, OR, PB, TR & WB
07
February 19
Friday
Shivaji Jayanti
MH
08
February 25
Thursday
Hazarat Ali's Birthday
UP
09
February 27
Saturday
Guru Ravidas Jayanti
CH, HP, HR & PB
10
March 08
Monday
Swami Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti
11
March 11
Thursday
Maha Shivaratri
National except AN, AR, AS, BR, DN, GA, LD, MP, MN, ML, MZ, NL, PY, SK, TN & WB
12
March 28
Sunday
Holika Dahan / Dolyatra
13
April 04
Sunday
Easter Sunday
KL & NL
14
April 13
Tuesday
Gudi Padwa
MH
15
April 13
Tuesday
Ugadi
AP, GA, GJ, JK, KA, RJ & TG
16
April 13
Tuesday
Chaitra Sukladi /Cheti Chand
17
April 14
Wednesday
Vaisakhi/Vishu
HR, JK, KL & PB
18
April 15
Thursday
Mesadi /Pahela Vaishakh (Bengal)/Bahag Bihu (Assam)
AR, AS, TR & WB
19
April 21
Wednesday
Ram Navami
AN, AP, BR, CG, DD, DL, GJ, HP, HR, MH, MP, OR, PB, RJ, SK, TG, UK & UP
20
May 07
Friday
Jamat-Ul-Vida
JK
21
May 09
Sunday
Rabindra Jayanti
TR & WB
22
July 12
Monday
Rath Yatra
OR
23
August 16
Monday
Parsi New Year's day/Nauraj
GJ & MH
24
August 21
Saturday
Onam or Thiru Onam Day
KL
25
August 22
Sunday
Raksha Bandhan
CG, DD, GJ, HR, MP, RJ, UK & UP
26
September 10
Friday
Vinayaka Chaturthi/Ganesh Chaturthi
AP, DD, DN, GA, GJ, KA, MH, OR, PY, TG & TN
27
October 12
Tuesday
Maha Saptami (Dussehra)
OR, SK, TR & WB
28
October 13
Wednesday
Maha Ashtami (Dussehra)
AP, AR, JH, MN, OR, RJ, SK, TG, TR & WB
29
October 14
Thursday
Maha Navami (Dussehra)
AS, BR, JH, KA, KL, ML, NL, OR, PY, SK, TN, TR, UP & WB
30
October 15
Friday
Vijay Dashami
National except MN & PY
31
October 20
Wednesday
Maharishi Valmiki Jayanti
CH, HP, HR, KA, MP & PB
32
October 24
Sunday
Karaka Chaturthi (Karva Chauth)
33
November 05
Friday
Govardhan Puja
UP & UK
34
November 06
Saturday
Bhai Duj
GJ, RJ, SK, UK & UP
35
November 10
Wednesday
Pratihar Sashthi / Surya Sashthi (Chhat Puja)
BR & JH
36
December 08
Wednesday
Guru Teg Bahadur's Martyrdom Day
PB
37
December 24
Friday
Christmas Eve
ML & MZ

Source: https://www.india.gov.in/calendar/

In India Sunday declared a weekend holiday. If any above mention holiday coincides with Sunday then it will not be counted as an extra holiday.

All the above festivals are commonly used for central government, state government, and other sectors office holidays. In addition, there are numerous festivals, events, and fairs which are also observed in some states and localities as holidays, the dates of which change from year to year.

Time and Date mentioned on the above lists for Muslim festivals are based on the latest known dates and may vary according to the local sightings of the first-day moon.